Gator Clause

One small step on the bracket, one giant leap for Florida's confidence

If that's what over-seeded looks like, then by all means, keep seeding.

It doesn't get much better than what Florida did with its first game in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The 79-51 win against UC Santa Barbara, which included a 24-point halftime lead (second best of the season after a 25-point cushion against NC A&T in November) should quiet some of the critics who said the Gators didn't deserve to be a No. 2 seed.

UCSB coach Bob Williams was certainly convinced, as he began his postgame press conference by saying, "They're really good. They're really good," and went on to say he thinks UF is better than the second-seeded Ohio State team the Gauchos lost to last year.

Now, it's important to remember that the Gauchos snuck into the Big Dance thanks to a three-game hot streak in the Big West Tournament, becoming the first No. 5 seed to ever win it. But guard Orlando Williams and forward James Nunnally are scoring threats against anyone, so this team wasn't a total joke. The Gators just made them look like one.

A 10-1 run to start the game, a 54 percent shooting night and Chandler Parsons' near triple-double (10 pts, 10 assists, seven rebounds in 27 minutes) were all very positive offensive signs, as was Erving Walker knocking down 4 of 6 threes. And on defense, they harried the Gauchos -- who shot nearly 50 percent in their conference tourney -- into 10 first-half turnovers and just 6-of-22 shooting before the half. By then, the game was all but over, and the lead grew to as high as 34 in the second half.

This was just about the best start UF could have hoped for, and it was especially encouraging to see them get a lead and make it grow rather than fumbling it away and winning late. That's the mark of a good team, and if they can add that component to the verstility and chemistry that's arleady in their lineup, this is a group you don't want to face.

The only negative to me was the crowd. Yes, there were plenty of Florida fans in the St. Pete Times Forum, but there weren't nearly as many as there should have been, and I hope that changes Saturday. Gators fans always want to talk "House of Horrors" and "We're a basketball school too," but I went to that school, covered many hoops games and was there tonight. It ain't no basketball school, and what I saw in Tampa today was not how a basketball school's fans travel to an NCAA Tournament game that's two hours away.

Barring a big second-half comeback, UCLA is next up, and I'll have more on that as we get closer to Round 2 (I refuse to refer to the play-in round as Round 1 like the NCAA does. Bite me.) Funny moment in the press conference: Walker said, "This should lead us into Michigan...excuse me, either UCLA or Michigan State." Oops. Looks like his bracket is gonna take a hit.

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Feeling pumped about your Gators? Predicting a Final Four run or still a little skeptical of this team? And if you were there, how did you feel about the fan support?

Know your foe: the UCSB Gauchos

I feel guilty for just sitting courtside at the St. Pete Times Forum and watching free basketball all day before Florida and UC-Santa Barbara play tonight, so let's do some learning. Today's subject is one most of the Gators are probably still a little rusty on -- their opponent, the Gauchos.

We'll start at the top. A Gaucho is a cowboy, just more Spanish-sounding and maybe a little more badass. Their gym is called The Thunderdome, which is all kinds of awesome, and they play in the Big West Concerence, which they've won the past two years. This time was a bit of a surprise, as they became the lowest seed to win the tourney since a 6-seed won in 1996.

UCSB had a disappointing 15-13 regular season where its longest win streak was three games, but in the Big West Tourney, the Gauchos turned that around. They shot a blazing 49.7 percent from the field in those three games, beating Pacific, Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State -- teams against which they'd gone a combined 0-6 against this year.

The biggest reason for that turnaround was guard Orlando Johnson. At 6-foot-5, he's a matchup problem, and the kid is a natural scorer. In 61 career games, he's scored in double figures 60 times, with the lone exception being a 6-point showing in the regular-season finale. He went off at the Big West Tourney for 85 points in three games to take MVP, and he'll be the main focus of the Gators' defense tonight.

He'll be really dangerous if he's on the same hot streak that carried UCSB into this tournament, and it's clear he still has the confidence. Here's what he said about UF on Wednesday: "They're not that different, they just play on a bigger stage. I think once we get out there, our players will be able to do the talking."

His players are forward James Nunnally, forward Jaime Serna and guard Justin Joyner. Those four all have to play well for the Gauchos to become the first 15-seed to win since 2001. Nunnally (6-foot-6) is the No. 2 scoring option at 16.4 ppg, and Serna (6-foot-9) is next at 8 ppg. Serna was limited by a groin injury this season but has found his form of late, averaging 15 points across the conference semifinal and final. And Joyner is the assist/steal guy. He dropped 112 dimes (equal to UF leader Chandler Parsons) and had 50 steals (Erving Walker is Florida's best at 37).

Those are the big four names to watch tonight, and keep an eye out for Greg Somogyi. The Hungarian is 7-foot-3 but only plays 14 minutes per game. In that short time, though, he averages 1.9 blocks. But I wouldn't expect him to impact the game too much. This will really come down to whether Johnson can keep up his hot streak and get good support from Nunnally and Serna.

I really don't know who the best guy is to stick on Johnson. He can also play forward, and from watching his highlights, he will pop off from well behind the three-point line, and he's also good at scoring on the drive and cutting through the lane for putback dunks. If his size is too much for Kenny Boynton and Scottie Wilbekin, look for Parsons and maybe even Alex Tyus to match up with Johnson.

Now, to end with a little fun. First, UCSB alum Jim Rome already has his celebration planned in case of a win. And you need to watch these two videos from the Gauchos' athletics department, which sounds like a fun place to work. First, there's this Old Spice spoof starting Joyner, and then check out their take on Dos Equis Most Interesting Man In The World.

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That should have you primed for tonight's matchup. Anyone out there afraid of UCSB?

Breakdown of Gators depth chart for spring ball

Will Muschamp said he isn't sure this depth chart "is worth the paper it's printed on," but I hear Jeremy Foley is springing for some high-grade printer paper these days. At the very least, it makes for interesting discussion, so without me blabbing too much, here's what UF released today:

QB
Starter: John Brantley. 2nd String: Tyler Murphy/Jeff Driskel
There will be plenty of discussion about the quarterbacks later this week, and they'll be available for interviews Thursday, so I won't get too deep here. No surprise that it's Brantley. Muschamp and Charlie Weis both said Brantley is a good fit, both of them declined to say what they thought went wrong with him last year, and they also said it's open competition. Weis also praised Murphy and called Driskel "a classic drop-back quarterback." Can't wait to see what happens with this group, but we won't really know til August. Weis added that he went after Jacoby Brissett because the depth at QB wasn't as great as it sounded with that three-way battle last year. It appears both Jordan Reed and Trey Burton are moving away from quarterback full-time.

RB
Starter: Chris Rainey. 2nd String: Mike Gillislee/Mack Brown
Again, no surprises, other than the fact that the "Rainey's a receiver" charade is over. Jeff Demps is running track and Mike Blakely is out after surgery, so spring is really about making sure Rainey knows the plays. I wouldn't be shocked if Gillislee or Brown really establish themselves either.

WR
Starter: Frankie Hammond. 2nd String: Stephen Alli/Quinton Dunbar
Starter: Omarius Hines. 2nd String: Andre Debose
THEY GOT IT RIGHT! As far as the starters go, this is the common sense lineup. You're obviously wondering if they dumped Deonte Thompson off a bridge or something. More on that in a minute, but this could be a big year for Hammond and Hines if they head into the season like this.

TE
Starter: Jordan Reed. 2nd String: A.C. Leonard
So Reed is full-time TE now, which is good and bad. Good because he could be a great tight end, but bad because the quarterback position could completely fall apart again and he'll be in less of a position to help.

F
F-21: Trey Burton.
F-12: Michael McFarland, Josh Postell
F-11: Deonte Thompson, then Solomon Patton OR Robert Clark.
Just what the F is F? Get ready to dive into the mind of Charlie Weis. I asked him to break this down since there are no F's on my Playstation, and he was really nice and helpful about it (aka not the Weis I expected to meet after all the stories about how he's a jerk). Basically, these three are the real second-stringers at their positions, though it's a little more complicated than that.
The numbers correspond to the number of backs (first digit) and tight ends (second digit) in the formation, and one of these three will always be on the field when their combination comes up. So, Burton will be the second back in the backfield, leaving one tight end and two receivers. McFarland will be the second tight end, meaning one back and two receivers, and Thompson will play when there's one back and one tight end, leaving three receivers.
Weis quizzed me at the end of his response, asking me how many receivers are on the field in a 22 formation. I correctly answered one, then asked for a job. He declined.
So, these three will play quite a bit. I'd like to see Leonard take this spot from McFarland and Debose, Patton or Clark take it from Deonte, and there's plenty of time for that. The important thing is that these coaches seem to have identified Hammond and Hines as being better than Thompson (they are), though maybe this will be the kick in the ass Deonte needs.

OL
LT: Chaz Green, Kyle Koehne
LG: Jonotthan Harrison, Cole Gilliam
C: Sam Robey, Nick Alajajian
RG: Jon Halapio, William Steinmann
RT: Xavier Nixon, Ian Silberman
LOT of new faces, and this is going to be a real problem. Muschamp said he's concerned with the line on both sides of the ball, though offensively looks a little worse. Nixon has the most experience, and Halapio should be fine, but after that it's real questionable and this spring should decide a lot. Matt Patchan, David Young and James Wilson are all limited through spring.

DL
Buck: Ronald Powell, then Lerentee McCray/Lynden Trail
DT: Sharrif Floyd, Earl Okine
DT: Dominique Easley, Leon Orr
DE: William Green, then Chris Martin/Clay Burton
Depth issues, but a good bunch of talent. Omar Hunter and Jaye Howard are both limited, which is a GREAT thing in my opinion. They don't need much work, but the other guys do. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn couldn't tell us why Powell's spot is called the Buck, but it's a hybrid role that he should thrive in, and it's modeled after the also-dubiously-named "Elephant" position Charles Haley played with the 49ers. I love Powell and McCray there. Green could be good at the other DE spot, but that's certainly a question mark and Martin needs to come along quickly.
Good talent at tackle, and as long as everyone keeps their heads on straight, that could be a good position. Muschamp said he told Easley, who had some problems with not being BMOC last year: "You either do it our way or you leave."

LB
Strongside: Gerald Christian, Gideon Ajagbe
Middle: Jon Bostic, Michael Taylor
Weakside: Jelani Jenkins, then Dee Finley OR Darrin Kitchens
The obvious oddity is Christian, who's been moved from TE. Muschamp made the decision, and he likes Christian's size and speed to cover tight ends, which should work because he was one. This discussion also led to the quote of the day from Muschamp: "I trust Jack Daniels" (Christian's HS coach).
No surprises outside of that. Neiron Ball is out for spring, and Finley needs to step up and earn some playing time this spring.

DB
CB: Moses Jenkins, De'Ante Saunders
CB: Jeremy Brown, Cody Riggs
S: Matt Elam, Josh Shaw
S: Josh Evans, Tim Clark
Nickel: Elam, then Riggs OR Saunders
Janoris Jenkins is out for spring, which I also think is a good thing. The other guys need a lot of work, and they'll get it. No big surprises here. Jaylen Watkins is limited, and we don't know anything about Saunders yet, but I wouldn't be shocked if Cody Riggs made some noise. Muschamp spoke highly of Riggs on Monday, and with the lapses Brown had at the end of last year, the door is certainly open. This is basically a four-or-five way competition for the spot oppisite Janoris, and there will probably be plenty of chances to get interceptions in practice.
At safety, Elam and Evans were the sure-fire starters, and Shaw has moved over from corner.

Special Teams
K: Caleb Sturgis, Brad Phillips
P: Kyle Christy, David Lerner
PR: Chris Rainey, Frankie Hammond
KR: Andre Debose, Solomon Patton
LS: Christopher Guido, Drew Ferris
Sturgis is limited in spring, and breaking in a new punter after Chas Henry's departure is a concern. No surprise on the return men, and I think we're all excited about the Guido-Ferris battle.

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Thoughts? What position battles are you most interested in?

"Over-seeded" Gators poised for deep run in NCAA Tourney

Florida got a brisk spanking from Kentucky in Sunday's SEC Championship, but in the words of the Notorious B.I.G., "It's all good baby bay-bay." That's because UF still landed a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament, prompting ESPN's Doug Gottlieb to call it "the most over-seeded team in the tournament" during a brief anti-Florida rant that no doubt followed a meal of urine-soaked Corn Flakes.

That comment probably bothered some of you, but I say take a step back. Regardless of what anyone thinks, the only thing that matters is the Gators are in a GRRRREAT position (cereal on the brain for me tonight).

First off, they're playing in Tampa (if you watched Eastbound & Down, you know what profanity-filled video clip I wanted to put here), which means good fan support. And the first-round opponent, 15-seed California Santa-Barbara, shouldn't be much of a problem. The Gauchos (18-13) snuck in by winning the Big West Tourmanent, becoming the first No. 5 seed to pull that off. I suppose you could make the argument that they're hot heading into the tourney, but the Gators have no business losing to a team like that.

After that, it's either No. 7 UCLA or No. 10 Michigan State for a trip to the Sweet 16 in New Orleans. A win there, and the likely opponent would be either No. 3 BYU or No. 6 St. John's, and both those teams are hurting. BYU, which knocked UF out of last year's tournament, is without forward Brandon Davies -- who committed the unforgiveable sin of premarital sex and was kicked off the team -- and SJU is missing forward D.J. Kennedy, who tore his ACL on Thursday.

And looking waaaay down the road, it'd probably be either No. 1 Pitt, No. 4 Wisconsin or No. 5 Kansas State (whom Florida beat this year) standing in the way of a Final Four trip. That's assuming a lot, but most analysts I've seen have the Gators penciled into the Elite 8, as will many females by virtue of that No. 2 seed and Chandler Parsons.

Meanwhile, Kentucky is a No. 4 seed and will likely face top overall seed Ohio State if they make the Sweet 16. A lot of good winning the SEC did them.

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Thoughts? I expected a No. 2 seed if Florida won today, but this came as a surprise. A 3 would have made a bit more sense to me, but I'll stop short of Gottlieb-ing them. Over-seeded or not, it doesn't matter because the hand has been dealt. To me, it looks great. How do y'all feel?

 

Closed-door policy in effect for spring practices and Pro Day

As expected, Florida announced Wednesday that spring practices would be closed to everyone, but, not as expected, the Gators' Pro Day (March 15) will be closed to the public and open to the media. (Ha! Take that suckers! I get to watch Will Hill run windsprints in person and you don't!)

I'd imagine you're far more bummed about not being able to see practices, given the massive changes in store for Florida this year and the lack of starpower among the NFL hopefuls, but the Pro Day thing caught me off guard. Lots of other schools keep them closed, and this is either Florida following suit or responding to a direct request from its players.

UF released two statements on the decisions today:

Head coach Will Muschamp on spring practices:

"With a new coaching staff here teaching our system, we feel like minimizing our distractions is important. We realize that there is high interest from the fans, and we are extremely appreciative of the support that The Gator Nation gives us. We hope they understand that this decision has been made in the interest of helping our program be successful on Saturdays this fall by allowing our team to learn and develop together in this type of environment. We also respect that the media have a job to do and understand that this creates a challenge for them, so we ask for their patience with us as we work through our first spring practice here at Florida.”

Spokesman Steve McClain on Pro Day:

"Pro Day is an extremely important day for the career hopes of these players, and they’ve spent an enormous amount of time and energy preparing for it. We feel that creating a more private environment and minimizing potential distractions will help give them the best chance to perform up to their potential. We also feel like it’s become more important than ever for us to monitor who is around our team and student-athletes, and taking this step provides us an even greater ability to manage that."

I think Muschamp's comments are pretty standard and very agreeable, and McClain's make sense as well. The most interesting part to me is the last sentence, which screams "WE'RE SHOOTING AGENTS ON SIGHT FROM NOW ON!"

Not much to say about all this. Pro Day isn't a big deal since this is the least-anticipated one in quite a while, and I'll have a lot more on spring practice early next week, when a press conference is scheduled with Muschamp and Charlie Weis in advance of the first workout on March 16. But the red flag, at least for me and other reporters, is that this could be the dawn of a new day as far as media access with the Gators. Weis has never been a fan of reporters, and Muschamp came up under Nick Saban, who's also closely guarded. I'll spare you the soapbox rant, but if the program does become less accesible to reporters, it affects fans too.

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You all cool with practices and Pro Day being closed? It essentially means no one will know anything about the formation of a new offense and defense, but it should make life a bit easier for the players and coaches. And with Pro Day, I promise to recount all the drama from every last epic drill.

O'Sullivan's March to Omaha: Gators pitchers burning everything in their path

(First off, check out the basketball post from last night if you missed it)

You know you have a baller pitching rotation when this is a disappointing outing: five innings, two runs, seven hits, four strikeouts, one walk.

Those were freshman Karsten Whitson's numbers from the Gators' 5-3 win Sunday that completed a sweep against Miami, and they were UF's worst of the weekend. On Friday, Brian Johnson went five scoreless innings, gave up just three hits, struck out nine and walked one. Saturday, Hudson Randall (pictured next to a very angry looking me during postgame interviews -- props to Daniel for getting me busted in stalkerface AGAIN) tossed seven scoreless, one-hit innings, fanned five and walked none.

So, on the season so far, these are the combined stats for the Phillies Gators' weekend starters: 50.1 IP, 5 runs, 53 strikeouts and five walks, and they've each contributed to a shutout (which ties UF's total from 2010). That is disgusting, filthy, dirty, nasty, grotesque stuff (can we use nauseating too?). It's too early in the season to have any meaningful comparisons around the country yet, but it's looking safe to say that Florida can count on having one of the nation's best staffs this year -- especially with these new bats sucking the juice out of the game.

And beyond those three, Tommy Toledo and Anthony DeSclafani are starting to really show something as well. DeSclafani tossed three innings of relief this weekend, striking out three and allowing just one hit (his only baserunner). He's looking like the favorite to take over the closing role vacated by Kevin Chapman, while Toledo could either be a solid midweek starter or top relief guy. He threw 2.2 perfect innings Sunday after a disappointing loss Tuesday to Florida State, where he alloved three runs and three walks in 2.1 innings.

It's funny listening to coach Kevin O'Sullivan after games. He's clearly happy with his pitchers but is sticking hard to the "We still have a lot of room for improvement" line. He's right not to let them get big-headed, but other than getting deeper into games, these guys can't be doing much more than they are right now. If I were the coach, I'd be walking around with a big-ass goofy grin all day long. And my team would probably lose. And these would be mandatory.

All this comes on top of the fact that the Gators have Preston Tucker (3-for-4 with a HR Sunday, hitting .435), Brian Johnson (who doubles as the No. 5 hitter and went 1-for-3 with a double Sunday, hitting .342) and Daniel Pigott (1-for-4 with a two-run double Sunday, hitting .514) absolutely stroking the ball. Leadoff man Nolan Fontana has cooled off bigtime -- going 3-for-27 after a 9-for-12 opening weekend -- and clean-up hitter Austin Maddox is at .256 with one homer, but odds are that some combination of those guys, catcher Mike Zunino and second baseman Josh Adams will always be hitting well enough to support this pitching staff.

There have been some mistakes, mainly on the basepaths, but in a sport where pitching and defense are becoming increasingly important, Florida is looking primed to actually live up to the mammoth hype they started the season with. Like I said, still too early to start making any meaningful comparisons or statements about this team, but this is definitely the best weekend rotation of all time.

For serious though, if you're in Gainesville and like pitching, get out to McKethan Stadium on the weekends and watch these guys play. Spring practices are going to be closed, and they're all far more accurate than John Brantley anyway.

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Anyone come out for the Miami series? Hit me with your thoughts in the comments. I've gotten a few e-mails asking for baseball coverage, so now's your chance to shine people.

How do the Gators match up with UF's past Final Four teams? You decide.

Florida's regular season is in the books, and despite a few moments of extreme disappointment earlier in the year, the Gators are looking like the team we all thought they'd be when the season started.

They finished strong with a win at Vanderbilt on Saturday, a victory that ends the year in very positive fashion (except for this unfortunate incident). All five starters scored in double figures to clinch the first SEC title since 2007 -- back when UF was the Jesus of college basketball.

That got me thinking: Where does this team rank compared to some of the great Florida teams of the past? So, since I'm so popular and cool, I spent a large part of my Saturday night preparing a blind comparison between this team, the 2000 NCAA Tourney runners up and the national champions from 2006 and 2007.

Below, you'll find the four teams listed in random order and compared across the categories that I either thought were important or were easily researchable thanks to the wonders of this website.

So, take a look, try to figure out which seasons are most impressive to you, rank them, then click the "continue" link and see if anything surprises you. PLEASE don't sit there and try to figure out which is which based on clues because that's no fun, and it'll mean I sacrificed untold amounts of booze and women for nothing tonight.

Note: Numbers are from the regular season only. I used AP rankings for the wins and losses when applicable but went with RPI across the board so that every team has some context.

Here we go:

Team A
Record: 24-6, 10-6 SEC
RPI: 15
Vs. the Spread: 14-10
Vs. AP Top 25: 2-1
Scoring: 78.3 to 63.5 (14.8-pt margin of victory)
Best 5 Wins: By 9 vs. RPI #13, By 5 vs. RPI #17/AP #16, By 15 vs. RPI #41, By 15 at RPI #41, By 5 vs. RPI #85/AP #19.
Losses: By 4 at RPI #6, By 4 vs RPI #6/AP #10, By 4 at RPI #45, By 5 at RPI #56, By 6 at RPI #62, By 4 vs. RPI #62.

Team B
Record: 24-6, 13-3 SEC
RPI: 11
Vs. the Spread: 13-13
Vs. AP Top 25: 4-2
Scoring: 71.5 to 62.4 (9.1-pt margin)
Best 5 Wins: By 2 vs. RPI #12/AP #10, By 13 vs. RPI #16/AP #6, By 4 at RPI #23, By 10 at RPI #25/AP #21, By 4 vs. RPI #25/AP #23.
Losses: By 18 vs. RPI #2/AP #4, By 8 at RPI #12/AP #22, By 3 at RPI #53, By 7 at RPI #104, By 3 vs. RPI #128, By 3 vs. RPI #149.

Team C
Record: 23-6, 12-4 SEC
RPI: 9
Vs. the Spread: 14-9
Vs. AP Top 25: 4-4
Scoring: 83.8 to 68.9 (14.9-pt margin)
Best 5 Wins: By 17 vs. RPI #5/AP #11, By 25 vs. RPI #12/AP #24, By 29 vs. RPI #27/AP #11, By 2 vs. RPI #31, By 26 vs. RPI #41/AP #20.
Losses: By 15 at RPI #5/AP #22, By 3 at RPI #15/AP #8, By 2 vs. RPI #15/AP #16, By 11 vs. RPI #25/AP #22, By 2 at RPI #37, By 10 at RPI #41.

Team D
Record: 26-5, 13-3 SEC
RPI: 6
Vs. the Spread: 10-13-1
Vs. AP Top 25: 4-1
Scoring: 79.8 to 62.6 (17.2-pt margin)
Best 5 Wins: By 26 vs RPI #1/AP #3, By 16 vs. RPI #12, By 3 at RPI #13/AP #20, By 13 vs. RPI #13, By 10 vs. RPI #47/AP #24.
Losses: By 2 vs. RPI #11/AP #10, By 10 at RPI #12, By 4 at RPI #41, By 13 at RPI #47, By 10 at RPI #90.

Breakdown
OK, so I just did this research and typed it out, and I've already forgotten which team is which (I think one of them is the Monstars from Space Jam).

By overall record, it goes: D, B, A, C.
By RPI, it's: D, C, B, A.
Against the spread, it's: C, A, B, D.
Against the Top 25: D, B, A, C.
Margin of victory:  D, C, A, B.

As far as wins and losses, you can judge for yourself. Team B had the worst losses but is also the only one with five wins against the RPI Top 25, and though Team D probably wins those categories as well, C really beat the hell out of some people and had the "best" losses.

Hopefully you made your way through all those numbers. If so, towel off, grab a drink and click continue.

A lot will happen during Gators spring practices, we just might not get to see it

Good afternoon Clausers. First off, my sincere apology for walking out on you the last couple of weeks. But the good news is, daddy's home and he's ready to shower you with attention. Baseball season is heating up, basketball is headed to the postseason and spring football is right around the corner, so we'll have plenty to talk about.

Speaking of spring football, got some bad news for you. The Gainesville Sun's Robbie Andreu blogged that practices may be closed to the public (and media) this spring. It's based on rumors and the word on the street, but Robbie knows what he's talking about, so there's a good chance this happens.

Two thoughts on this: 1. Huge bummer: With a new coaching staff, there are going to be big changes on both sides of the ball. And there's a quarterback battle! And we can't watch any of it! 2. Smart move: With a new coaching staff, there are going to be big changes on both sides of the ball. And there's a quarterback battle! Why would you want anyone else watching that?

My job will totally suck if this happens because I'll have nothing to go off of besides the coaches' and players' words, which, in four seasons around this program, I have come to realize don't mean s***. We'll hear all the same BS we heard in the past. Remember all that "John Brantley is the most pure passer of all time" stuff everyone used to say? No one knew it wasn't true until we could actually see Brantley play, and this spring will be the same problem.

But I still agree with the decision if they go that route. How does having open practices benefit a program? Don't tell me fan support, not here at least. Y'all Gators fans are straight-up crazy for your team (I mean that lovingly) and you're going to buy your tickets and shirts whether you got to see Frankie Hammond do one-on-one drills or not. This way, they get to work on everything with minimal distractions.

Two more thoughts on this: 1. The Orange and Blue Game is going to be one of the most anticipated ever. It'll be the unveiling of Jeff Driskel and Brantley 2.0 and the first look at the offense Charlie Weis has cooked up. Will it be a ramshackle, cheaply thrown-together fast food offense or an impeccably thought-out five course meal? (Sorry).

2. I really want Will Muschamp to make a commercial for spring practice to parody Eric Cartman's Cartmanland on South Park: "Hey everybody! Check out the all new Florida Gators! It's our grand opening, and we've got more than three returning players who didn't make fools of themselves last year to go along with a ton of young talent! There will be new coaches and lots of surprises, and the best part is...you can't come! So come on down to spring practices, but don't plan on getting past the parking lot, because remember...[Now singing] So much to do at spring practice, but you can't come! Especially Stan and Kyle."

We'll talk more about the main questions heading into spring practice in the next week, it just looks like we won't have those questions answered until the fall. That clearly sucks, but how do you feel about the decision if practices are closed? Think it's a good idea? Would it affect your support of the team? If the only security system at practices was for the quarterbacks to throw footballs at the trespassers, would you just take your chances?

Me? I'll be sitting in the parking lot, relentlessly blaring this song. Should make for a pretty creepy time.

Which Gators team is most likely to win a title this spring?

There's a considerable amount of ass being kicked in Gainesville right now. The men's basketball team is hitting its stride and may finally be headed back toward postseason success, the baseball and gymnastics squads are both ranked No. 1, and the softball team is playing like the softball team always plays.

So here's the question: If you could only bet your life on one, which team would you pick to win a national title?

-Men's Basketball
The No. 14 Gators are 21-5, lead the Southeastern Conference with a 10-2 record and have won five straight after beating LSU without Chandler Parsons on Sunday. Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama and Vanderbilt present a pretty tough closing schedule before UF leads to the SEC Tournament, but they look destined for a solid seed in March Madness. Given this team's scrappy nature, I like their potential in the postseason, and if they can get Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus (gasp!) all playing well at the same time, they have Final Four ability to me. That could be said about a lot of teams though, and slugging your way through the Tourney is a tall task, so I'm pegging the hoopsters No. 4 on my list.

-Baseball
One series isn't nearly enough to make a judgment on whether the Gators will live up to all the Omaha hype they started the season with, but the first three games (7-2, 4-1 and 5-0 wins against USF) didn't leave much room to poke holes, either. Starters Brian Johnson, Hudson Randall and Karsten Whitson combined to allow one run in 17 innings. They struck out a total of 21, faced just seven batters more than the minimum and walked ONE DUDE OUT OF 58. So UF's starters are boasting a Cliff Lee-like strikeouts-to-walks ratio right now. Whitson was really impressive, hitting 95 on the gun Sunday. I guess he should be, since he was the No. 9 overall pick in the MLB Draft and passed on $2.1 million to come to UF. Shortstop Nolan Fontana was the other baller this weekend, going 9-for-12 and making a great diving play Saturday to get out of a bases-loaded jam. This team is nasty, but a word of caution: The 2006 Gators started No. 1 after finishing second at the 2005 CWS. The year began well, but then they floundered and finished .500. So just remember there's still a looong way to go.

-Gymnastics
They're undefeated, No. 1 and came damn close to posting another score of 197 (which is good) Friday against Auburn despite resting some studs. Alaina Johnson is killin' it, as she posted the nation's best all-around score last weekend, and with three away meets left before the SEC Championships and NCAAs, this team sure looks poised for some hardware if it keeps up this pace. The gymnastics program has been solid for years but has rarely lit it up on the biggest stages, so mental toughness will be the key. Nerves can make a big difference in a sport where inches separate perfect 10s from stumbles, and they won't have the advantage of the home crowd when they (likely) reach the NCAA finals in Cleveland. I hope one of them does a LeBron James chalk toss while wearing a Heat jersey in warm-ups.

-Softball
The No. 5 Gators are 9-0 after sweeping No. 22 North Carolina by a total score of 22-0, and ace Stephanie Brombacher threw a perfect game last weekend. What else is new? Florida will probably go as far as Brombacher's arm can take it, which is looking pretty good right now. She's thrown 31 scoreless frames, while Hannah Rogers has given up just two runs in 21 innings. And they're hitting .386 as a team against .137 for their opponents.

-Breakdown
Power poll-wise, I'd say it's baseball, gymnastics, softball then basketball, but the hoops team certainly has the talent and could go on a run. Gymnastics has the easiest path to a title, since the team is performing well and doesn't have to worry about head-to-head competition. If they do their thing at regionals (they will) and in the finals (we'll see), they could easily take the crown.

For that reason, I'm picking gymnastics, followed by baseball, softball and basketball as far as likelihood of a title.

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Who you got? Track and swimming both won titles last year, so you can toss them in the ring as well if you like.

Gators sitting pretty after another nail-biter

If you were looking for a reason to believe this season is going to be better than Florida's past few, it came last night. UF's mindset in recent years has seemingly been "Well, we've strung together a win streak. Better lose one." I'm not sure UF has moved on from that strategy since the Gators tried their best to lose to Tennessee on Saturday, but the difference is they were able to win despite themselves.

Erving Walker was the hero, as his furious drive to the basket and left-handed lay-up between three defenders with 14 seconds left provided the winner in a 61-60 victory.

Here's what they overcame last night:
-Alex Tyus had an assist on the Gators' first bucket and scored their next six points. It was looking like a good night until he turned the ball over three times in four minutes, leading to six points in a 15-4 run by UT. Then, with 31 seconds left and UF down 60-59, he bricked two free throws and only avoided being the goat because UT missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to set up Walker's heroics.
-They allowed five three-pointers and turned the ball over 10 times in the first half. "Robbed blind" doesn't quite describe Tennessee's nine steals before the half. It was more like a looting, yet they only trailed by six.
-Patric Young grabbed a rebound with 57 seconds left and a 59-58 lead, but he was stripped of the ball and UT's Cameron Tatum laid it in. Really stunning to see that from Young, who's been valuable because of his aggressiveness.
-Kenny Boynton was out from the 6:10 mark to the 0:25 mark.He got a technical for slamming the ball after being fouled, and Donovan sat him down. Vernon Macklin only played 10 minutes in the second half because of foul trouble, and Chandler Parsons limped through most of his game-high 37 minutes with a thigh bruise after colliding with Tyus (does Tyus owe some bookies money or something? He did have 11 rebounds though). Parsons scored just three points and had three rebounds, meaning three of UF's four best players were largely ineffective for the end of a Florida-Tennessee game.

You can probably think of more mistakes if you watched, but even all that wasn't enough to secure a defeat, and the Gators have two people to thank for that: Walker and Scottie Wilbekin. Wilbekin (henceforth referred to as either Drake or Drizzy) had five points and an assist, but without him, Walker never gets a chance to be the hero.

Tennessee's Scotty Hopson went OFF last night. He had 15 points in the first half and was at 21 with 7:40 to go. That's when Billy Donovan sent Drizzy into the game and told him to stick on Hopson. That's a lot to ask of an unheralded freshman, but Drake held Hopson to one point for the rest of the night. Amazing work. Thank Him Later.

And that brings us to Walker. He can be a liability on defense, and his height can make things difficult on offense sometimes, but boy does he seize the big moments. Donovan had drawn up a play for UF's final possession, but when Walker saw open space in the lane, he darted to the hoop and made a very tough lay-up to take the lead and prompt Tyus to say "Thanks for saving my ass" (pictured).

The best part of the postgame interviews was Donovan's assessment of Walker's mindset in clutch situations:

“I’ve coached guys that love to take the last shot because they don’t want to shy away from it, but they have no intention of making it. ... I think a lot of it has to do with, being his size, he can’t win the dunk contest and do all those things. He’s not a spectacular player, so the only way he’s able to win respect is through winning. I totally understand it, because I went through the same thing as a player.”

The first part of that quote immediately brings Nick Calathes to mind, and heading to the postseason with a fearless player like Walker is huge. He embodies the resiliency Donovan is always talking about with this team. They always seem to fight, scratch and claw their way out of trouble. The problem is, they haven't made the leap toward carrying themselves like an elite team. That's what Donovan is waiting for -- them to consistently play like they're the best team on the court (which they are).

Yes, they pounded South Carolina and Arkansas, who aren't very good, but three of their last four wins have come by a total of seven points. You'd like to see them play like the top-10 team everyone expected them to be, but at least they're winning. For the first time since 2007, I don't have to sit here and try to project the NCAA Tourney bubble. Barring a huge collapse, Florida (20-5, 9-2 SEC) is goin' dancing, with the possibility of landing a really high seed if it wins the SEC Tourney.

Side note: The win makes UF one of five schools to reach 20 victories in 13 straight seasons (Kansas, Duke, Syracuse and Gonzaga). Donovan said when he was hired that athletics director Jeremy Foley asked him how many 20-win seasons he thought Florida had. Donovan's guess was "20 or 25," and Foley shot back "Five."

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Thoughts on last night's game? A bunch of exciting basketball going on in the O'Dome lately, with close games and the top two crowds in school history in the last week. How good do you feel about this team heading into the postseason?

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 Cam Newton Memorial All-Transfer Team

It's that time of year again. The letters of intent have been faxed, spring practice is right around the corner (March 16) and some student-athletes are re-evaluating their place with the Gators. Transfers are inevitable, and there are some prime candidates to get the heck up outta here in search of greener pastures.

The new coaching staff can work two ways when it comes to transfers. There are guys whom Urban Meyer loved despite their faults, and a fresh start is worrisome for them (COUGHDEONTETHOMPSONCOUGH). Excuse me. Then there are those who didn't seem to get their due but could now that everyone's starting at square one.

Now, I've written things like this in the past and usually gotten angry feedback, so I'd like to make myself clear first. From a UF fan's perspective, nothing could be better than playing for the Gators, but that's not necessarily the best fit for everyone, so this list is full of names for whom a move could be of benefit and is in no way meant as an insult. In fact, Gator Clause wishes any future transfers from UF nothing but the best: $200,000, a Heisman Trophy and a national title.

Now, let's get to it:

-QB: John Brantley and Tyler Murphy
Brantley made the decision to stay because he's happy with Charlie Weis and a pro-style offense. But he'll have to deal with Jeff Driskel in spring practice, and if Driskel gets off to a hot start and there's an open competition, I wouldn't be shocked to see Brantley up sticks (one of the best phrases known to man). However, Brantley handled a very tough situation last season like a professional. He never whined, and he held his leadership role even in the face of diminished playing time. Granted, he helped put himself in that situation by sucking, but I say that to point out that he's a resilient fellow.

If Brantley stays, Murphy has got to be leaving unless he wants to inherit the Jimmy Hoffa position on the depth chart. He'd be behind Brantley, Driskel, Jacoby Brissett, Jordan Reed and probably be battling Gainesville High walk-on Ryan McGriff for scout-team duties. Side note: I saw McGriff play at GHS, and he's got a good arm. Good guy to have around.

-RB: Mack Brown
Brown never got a chance this season, and he fits into that category of guys who can impress and earn some playing time. But he's still got Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey and Mike Gillislee in front of him and Mike Blakely coming in. Blakely is out for the spring because of shoulder surgery, which makes Brown leaving less likely in my mind. This is a guy Florida should want to keep around since Demps and Rainey are gone after this year.

-WR: Andre Debose
Weis and Will Muschamp better be promising the world to Debose. I had him figured for a definite transfer until Meyer left, and if he doesn't feel like he'll be a bigger part of the offense during spring practice, I still wouldn't be surprised to see him leave. That would be a disaster, so I'd imagine Muschamp and Weis wouldn't let that happen. Then again, I would have imagined there was no way Meyer wouldn't realize Debose needed to play more, yet he seemingly didn't. If you were at the Florida-Kentucky basketball game Saturday, you witnessed the hilarity of Debose being honored with an award for being a baller kick returner, meaning his speed and elusiveness was impressive enough to warrant public commendation but not playing time on one of the most dysfunctional offenses in the country. LOL. And I'd expect to see a non-Debose receiver leave as well, because that happens just about every year.

-TE: Desmond Parks
Reed, Gerald Christian and A.C. Leonard are all likely ahead of Parks, and then there's pseudo-tight end Trey Burton. Roll out.

-CB: Any and everyone not named Janoris Jenkins
This is going to be one hell of a position battle in the spring. Jenkins' surprise announcement that he's staying for his senior year cranks up an already intense struggle for the No. 2 spot. Jeremy Brown, Cody Riggs, Moses Jenkins and Jaylen Watkins all saw a fair amount of playing time there last year, and there's only so much to go around. Add in bigtime recruit Josh Shaw (now a redshirt freshman) and the whopping six defensive backs in this recruiting class, and there are bound to be some heading for the door. I have very close to zero insight on Watkins (not that much of a drop from my usual insight I suppose), but Riggs is the least physically gifted and will have to re-enact the Rudy routine that gained him favor with last year's coaches. Moses will lose all the goodwill he built up through years of special teams work, and Brown was one of those "Meyer guys" but struggled late in the year. This crew should be tripping over themselves to hold doors open for their new coaches.

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What do y'all think of this list? I tried to stick to the bigger names and not guys at the bottom of the depth chart. Any other names you're worried about? I'd expect the offensive linemen to stay since playing time is wide open for next year, and the annual rumors of more 3-4 defense make me hesitant to pick out any linebackers. There are some interesting cases like Earl Okine -- guys who bounced around positions and could be left drifting in the wind a bit -- but we'll have to wait and see what happens in the spring for those.

QB Brissett picks Gators, can still change his mind

Dwyer High quarterback Jacoby Brissett committed to Florida before his basketball game tonight, addressing two of the issues Will Muschamp raised at his press conference on National SIgning Day. Muschamp hinted that he was still waiting on a recruit and said he wasn't happy with the depth at quarterback.

It's a big pull for Muschamp to take Brissett away from Miami, especially because he already has Jeff Driskel in his pocket, BUT there is still a decent chance the Hurricanes end up with him anyway. Brissett didn't sign a letter of intent today and apparently won't do so until Monday. As you'll read in the story linked above, Brissett's momma ain't happy with the choice, and she'll be trying to change his mind all weekend.

Even if he flips, this should make people feel a little better about Muschamp and Charlie Weis as recruiters. They jumped on Brissett pretty quick and obviously made a good impression on him. Momma Brissett is upset Muschamp never met with her ("That man Mr. Muschamp is THE DEVIL!"), but she liked Weis, and this whole thing at least says Weis had some pull in recruiting after all.

Now, if Brissett comes to UF, it'll be really interesting to see what happens. Will he be the favored freshman because he was the one Muschamp and Weis picked? Or is Driskel the Golden Boy, meaning Brissett will eventually throw some expensive computer equipment out a window and win a national title at Auburn? Brissett is mobile, but he isn't truly a dual-threat quarterback, so he could fit into a Weis-run offense.

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Have any of you seen him play? What do you think of this pickup? Will it stick? I can already tell the comment cop is going to have his hands full on this one.

Fiction Friday: The truth behind Maurkice Pouncey's injury

Welcome to the first edition of Fiction Friday, a potential new semi-weekly feature on Gator Clause. This week, I chugged a bottle of NyQuil, spun in my office chair 25 times and typed until I passed out. This is the result:

IT'S THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SUPER BOWL, and Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey is in his hotel room, nervously pacing back and forth with a protective boot on his left foot. He’s just been ruled out of the game because of a sprained ankle, an outcome that had been planned for months. That was Step 1 of a devious plan. Step 2 is due any second.

There’s a knock at the door, and Maurkice hobbles over. “Who is it?” he asks.

The reply comes from a gruff but familiar voice. “Housekeeping.”

Maurkice opens the door, and in walks Temple football coach Steve Addazio, dressed as a maid and pushing a large laundry cart filled with towels and a snorkel popping out of the top. Suddenly, the pile of towels bursts into the air to reveal Florida center Mike Pouncey, wearing a Steelers tracksuit and boot. He climbs out and grabs Addazio and Maurkice for a bearhug.

“We don’t have much time,” Addazio says in a whisper, breaking up the emotional moment. “Mike, you know what to do. Climb in Maurkice.”

Maurkice steps into the laundry cart and is covered with towels. Addazio pushes him out of the room to an elevator, which he takes to the below-ground parking garage. Maurkice pops his head out.

“Coach, where do I go? I’ll have to lay low so know one figures it out.”

“Don’t worry,” Addazio says. “I have a guy for that.”

A black Thunderbird with tinted windows is idling a few feet away. Addazio gives a quick whistle, and the driver’s door opens to reveal former Oakland Raiders center Barret Robins.

“You’re in good hands,” Addazio says. “If anyone knows how to hide a center before the Super Bowl, it’s Barret.”

Maurkice walks to the car and turns back toward Addazio, holding back tears.

“It’ll all be OK,” Addazio assures him. “This is the only way. We’ll be back together soon.”

If you're hoping Muschamp will be like Meyer, 2011 NSD is a good sign

A first-year Florida coach signs 18 recruits, gets mixed reviews on his first class and finishes way behind Florida State. Sound familiar? It happened in 2005, when Urban Meyer brought in his inaugural crew, and that was the case this year for Will Muschamp.

Why do I bring this up? Because it's a coincidence and SPORTSWRITERS LOVE COINCIDENCES!

This doesn't mean Muschamp is headed for unprecedented success and years of happy hunting on the recruiting trail, but it's important to cut him some slack based on the tough situation he walked into. He officially took over a month before National Signing Day and didn't get his full staff together until...today, when he hired Derek Lewis to coach tight ends and moved Brian White to running backs.

The Gators finished No. 14 on Rivals.com (Meyer's first class was No. 15. Just sayin) and could move a bit since there are still a few players out there who've yet to sign. I'd name them, but last time I did that it turned out to be a gigantic jinx, and I don't want to piss off my readers.

No. 1 prospect and apparent attention whore Jadeveon Clowney is waiting to announce until all eyes are on him (this feels like a Super Sweet 16 episode or something). He's probably not Florida-bound, to which I say you should be thankful. That punk thought it'd be funny to "announce" on Facebook that he's headed to a crappy team a few months ago and freak everyone out. He picked East Carolina as his joke school, and as a lifelong Pirates fan, I'm confident that the football gods will punish him with a career to match his last name.

Some good and bad news today, and I'll make it quick because I'm burned out.

Bad first, we'll end happy: Lake City DT Timmy Jernigan is going to FSU, and Richmond (Va.) LB Curtis Grant is going to Ohio State. Both are considered the bluest of chips, and Muschamp couldn't get Jernigan despite the fact he grew up a UF fan. That always hurts, and apparently Jernigan was upset with the way Meyer and Dan McCarney left, so I suppose Muschamp can't shoulder the blame.

Good: WR Ja'Juan Story and DB Marcus Roberson are headed to Gainesville, and as of writing, Jeff Driskel is still alive and well. Story committed to UF in June, but he and the Buckeyes had been casting sultry glances at each other, and he said he hadn't even made up his mind when he sat down to announce today. Roberson is a big pickup, a South Florida DB to go along with Jabari Gorman. Y'all have to be pretty happy with Muschamp for snagging those two.

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Like I said, I'm beat, but I'm planning a new feature for Friday that you will either think is hilarious or the dumbest thing you've ever seen. What did you guys think of NSD and Meyer's work on ESPN? No matter how bad you think it was, no UF committs were arrested for fondling girls the night before, so you'll always have that to hang your hat on. Kid gets an A for creativity though.

5 kids who will totally (maybe) be stud college football players and might sign with the Gators but also might not

Remember when you were a little kid and the day before Christmas produced a kind of jittery feeling inside? So much anticipation and excitement, and the joy of unwrapping That Thing You Always Wanted was just hours away. Well, National Signing Day is that emotion for grown-ups who follow college football.

Consider me Jewish for the purposes of this discussion, but I certainly understand why NSD matters. There are high school football players out there who still haven't settled on a college, and some of them will have the same impact on their future schools that guys like Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin had on UF. There's no denying that it's a huge deal.

So who do the Gators still have a shot at? Below are five top prospects who are still considering Florida, and the addition of any one of them would be a big help to the legacy of Will Muschamp's first recruiting class, as discussed in my story last week: LINK. Here we go (rankings from Rivals.com):

LB Stephone Anthony
(6-3, 220 pounds, Wadesboro, N.C.)
-Competition: Clemson and North Carolina
-Why He'll Sign: The nation's No. 3 OLB has a good relationship with UF linebackers coach D.J. Durkin and was happy when Durkin was retained, and with the departures of A.J. Jones, Brandon Hicks and Lorenzo Edwards, there are openings on the depth chart.
-Why He Won't: People in the know seem to think he's headed to Clemson.
-Meaningless Percentages: 40% Clemson, 35% UF, 24% UNC, 1% Tulsa Welding School

QB Jacoby Brissett
(6-5, 225 pounds, West Palm Beach)
-Competition: Miami and Wisconsin. He just eliminated Washington, which is a shame because Seattle is a lovely city.
-Why He'll Sign: The No. 3 dual-threat QB would be a great fit for Urban Meyer's spread offense! Oh, right. Well, Meyer only offered Brissett a grayshirt, but Charlie Weis has been all over Brissett like a...OK I'll skip the fat joke since it made y'all mad last time. Weis is supposed to be a great recruiter, and he's giving Brissett the full court press, so there's smoke here even though it looks unlikely on paper. He also has former Dwyer High teammates Matt Elam, Gerald Christian and Robert Clark in Gainesville already, and he wants to play basketball as well.
-Why He Won't: He's only a two-star fence-climber, so experts fear he won't be able to escape Al Golden's State of Miami and flee north. Also: Jeff Driskel.
-Meaningless Percentages: 65% Miami, 30% UF, 5% He Freezes His Ass Off For 3-5 Years

LB Curtis Grant
(6-3, 222 pounds, Richmond, Va.)
-Competition: Ohio State
-Why He'll Sign: The biggest fish in the pond for UF, Grant is the No. 2 overall recruit in this year's class, making him a stone cold lock to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. For real though, this kid is a baller and would seem a natural fit at the coveted middle linebacker spot. He kept the Gators in his sights despite all the turmoil of Meyer leaving, so he must like Florida quite a bit.
-Why He Won't: The Buckeyes are the leaders, and part of that is surely due to the fact they don't have a new coach and a few years of uncertainty ahead of them.
-Meaningless Percentages: 70% Ohio State, 20% Florida, 10% Culinary School

DT Timmy Jernigan
(6-2, 275 pounds, Lake City)
-Competition: Florida State
-Why He'll Sign: Timmy is one of the top-rated players at his position, and he grew up a Gators fan just a short drive from Gainesville. Now, he has a chance to make his dreams come true, but he finds himself considering a school he once hated. Sound familiar? Jernigan even played for the same HS coach as Tim Tebow, Craig Howard. He's a priority for UF, as defensive line coach Bryant Young was meeting with Jernigan before even being announced as hired.
-Why He Won't: The 'Noles are putting together one hell of a recruiting class, and they're the leaders for Jernigan's signature. In cases like this, I won't believe anything til ink hits paper, but Florida appears to be the underdog.
-Meaningless Percentages: 55% Jernigans Roast Marshmallows Over A Bonfire Of Their Old UF Gear, 45% I Get To Make A Tebow Comparison In My NSD Story

WR/TE Junior Pomee
(6-3, 210 pounds, Moreno Valley, Calif.)
-Competition: USC, Utah and Arizona
-Why He'll Sign: He played with Ronald Powell in high school and the two are close friends.
-Why He Won't: Pomee's dad said Monday that he's headed to USC, then Pomee came out and denied it. I say he's just trying to keep some suspense for NSD.
-Meaningless Percentages: 100% USC, 100% That's A Total Guess

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Which one of these guys do you want the most? Think any will sign with UF?

How will Stan Drayton's departure affect recruiting?

After getting a late start, finally putting together a staff and having to wait on his coordinators to lose in the NFL Playoffs, Will Muschamp didn't need anything else to overcome on the recruiting trail. He got it anyway.

Muschamp's staff is incomplete once again, as running backs coach Stan Drayton leaves Florida for the second time, this time to be Ohio State's receivers coach. Drayton was also the Gators' recruiting coordinator, had been formerly honored by Rivals.com for his recruiting skills, and he was the guy with the most experience at UF.

So far, no reaction to this, but in the oh-so-fickle world of recruiting, you never really know. I know y'all have an isatiable thirst for recruiting news, and I'll be the first to admit that the whole business is a huge turn-off for me, being that it's the pinnacle of the rumor-driven, shady reporting that I've come to detest.

BUT, just because I love my blog readers so much, I made a phone call today. Monsignor Pace safety Jabari Gorman, a four-star safety who Drayton recruited, told me he'd known "for a while" that Drayton was leaving (to be closer to family) and that it wouldn't affect his commitment. This is important not only because Gorman is good, but he's also the only commit since Muschamp took over. Pulling a talented kid out of Miami was a good get for Muschamp, and if he loses Gorman without another solid pickup, he doesn't have much to hang his hat on with this recruiting class.

As for the potential fall-out from Drayton leaving, Ja'Juan Story seems to be the next problem. The 6-3, 190-pound receiver committed in June but is now playing the percentage game ("Don't worry, I'm still 64 percent committed. I'm 22 percent de-committed, 10 percent undecided and 4 percent sure that people who put legitimate stock in these numbers should be committed to an asylum").

Story is looking at the Buckeyes, where Drayton would now be his position coach. Drayton wasn't the main guy handling Story, but taking a familiar face away from School A and adding him to School B is not good news for School A.

Really, all we can do is sit back and see what happens in the coming days. Signing Day is next Wednesday, and while bringing in the current 15-man class with no changes would be a disappointment for a program used to No. 1 rankings, there's something to be said for Muschamp and his crew hanging on to the guys Urban Meyer brought in.

Check the paper and site Friday for my UF recruiting feature, and I'll have another post up soon with the big fish still out there that the Gators are chasing.

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In the meantime, who do you want to see Florida close with? Worried about Story? Does Drayton leaving bother you?

Jenkins cited for marijuana: Muschamp has his first test

He won't be going high in the NFL Draft this year, but Janoris Jenkins will be damned if that's going to keep him from getting high in a Gainesville night club.

Jenkins was cited for misdemeanor possession this weekend after the fuzz spotted him rolling a marijuana cigarette in the bathroom of a club, giving new coach Will Muschamp his first bit of negative press. It's not an arrest, so I'll keep the Official Muschamp Arrest Counter at zero for the time being, but it's still a big moment.

Muschamp did a lot of talking about discipline during his introductory press conference, and his players will no doubt be interested to see how he handles this from a player like Jenkins, who'll be a team leader next season after putting off a pro career to return for his senior year. The crime is pretty tame. The fact Jenkins got caught is the bigger issue to me.

I (and most likely you) know people (certainly none of us would ever do it) who smoke weed and don't get busted for it. It's not a big deal when enjoyed responsibly, and the effects are far less dangerous than alcohol. At least that's what people I know tell me.

But here's Jenkins, bringing drugs into a club and having them out in the open where cops can see him. That just speaks to a general lack of common sense, a missing piece that I feel excludes him from the "top 1 percent of 1 percent" that Urban Meyer said he strived to recruit. He also got hit with a Taser and charged with fighting and resisting arrest in 2009.

A very small number of people would be able to avoid illegality in a four-year career in college football, but the art is in not getting caught. As a reporter said when Brandon James got popped for buying weed from a police informant a few years ago, "Doesn't he know there are people who can get that for him?"

In light of that, let's all pause and appreciate Percy Harvin. Harvin enjoys his marijuana, a fact proven by his failed drug test at the NFL Combine. That was incredibly dumb, and I wouldn't be shocked to know that a few of the games he missed for "injury" at UF were really because of drug issues, but in three years, Harvin didn't run afoul of Johnny Law. He was a big star who kept his nose clean and seldom disappointed on the field. Realistically, THAT is the top 1 percent of 1 percent, as far as college football goes.

Moving forward, this is mostly a non-issue to me. The deadline to declare for the NFL Draft has passed, meaning there's no chance Muschamp cracks the whip, Jenkins gets upset and bolts for the pros. It would seem a bit harsh to suspend him for a game seven months from now, but even if that happens, it's just FAU.

But for a struggling program largely relying on young players, leadership will be a constant battle. This issue isn't likely to crush Jenkins' credibility with his teammates, but it does cast doubt about whether he's the kind of guy you want atop your roster's power pyramid.

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Anyone really upset about this? Do you care? What do you think Muschamp will do?

Did you want the Gators to hire Mike Leach?

Great column from SI's Stewart Mandel today about the plight of former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach trying to find a new gig. Check it out and meet me at the next paragraph.

Those of you who did the required reading can print and mail this to me as a prize, but since most of you probably didn't, here's the rundown: Leach is down in Key West doing a radio show, occasionally working as an analyst, and of the 21 Division 1-A schools that had recent coaching vacancies, Maryland was the only one to contact him.

Mandel talked to an anonymous administrator whose school recently passed on Leach, and the source said Leach's 84-43 record with 10 bowls in 10 years at Tech isn't enough to make up for the headache that comes with the Adam James fiasco and Leach's pending lawsuit against Tech, not even when you throw in the fact that Leach had the nation's best graduation rate when he left the Red Raiders.

That administrator did say Leach would probably be met with tons of excitement from fans, but media attention and complaints from the higher-ups at a university would be the problem. Would you have been OK with Florida hiring Leach instead of Will Muschamp? For that matter, would our guests from Coral Gables have chosen Leach over Al Golden to run Miami's program?

I want to hear your thoughts on this. I can see it going both ways. Muschamp and Golden were both questionable hires because neither has been the top dog at a bigtime program, but Golden can't be punished for being successful at Temple, and Muschamp is intriguing because of his familiarity with the SEC.

If it's me, I'll take Leach all day. When Skip Holtz left my favorite team for South Florida, I wanted East Carolina to hire Leach right away. He's an offensive genius (and maybe a real-life genius. he also holds a law degree), he's funny, he's really funny, and he's obsessed with pirates, making him a natural fit at ECU.

Instead, they hired his hula-hoop-waisted defensive coordinator, Ruffin McNeill, who brought along Leach understudy Lincoln Riley to run the TTU offense, which made ECU one of the best attacks in college football this season. It's hard for me to imagine the Pirates wouldn't be better with Leach at the helm. Let's not forget, he was the man behind one of the best moments in recent college football history.

I have little doubt Leach would be a good head coach should be find a new job, so the next question is all the attention that athletic directors and school officials feel he'd bring. In a word, I'll refer to those people as "idiots," since it fits them so well. This can be taken care of with a press conference or two. Hire him, come out and support him. This isn't an ongoing scandal. He may or may not have locked a kid widely regarded as a prick in a closet. There's a decent chance one of your coaches did worse to you in pee wee football.

Sports is all about redemption stories. Tear them down, build them back up and call them heroes. It's a cycle of BS, if you ask me, and no portion of the cycle is more absurd than the part Leach is stuck at. He'll land somewhere, and Tom Rinaldi will show up with his piano for a tear-jerker ESPN piece letting everyone know that "Leach is, once again, the captain of his ship."

I can't believe no one in charge feels that way, and it's especially shocking that Leach can't even get interviewed. It's one thing to fear hiring a guy who just sued his last employer (with good reason) and may very well be smarter than you, but no one has cited that as a reason that I know of.

And I don't want to hear anything about how a coach is supposed to be a molder of men. This isn't middle school. It's college, it's crooked, and everyone is pretty much going to do what they want. (See: Hill, Will). For real, click that link and remember that at the very time he was Tweeting those things, UF coaches were telling reporters about how mature Hill was.

Leach is a great coach and a captivating character, and I'd love to see what he could do with a program like Florida or Miami. Would you? If you don't think he'd fit, is it because of on- or off-field issues?

 

Blakely out for spring, what do you expect from Gators RBs next year?

It's raining and it's a Monday, so bad news is fitting. Freshman running back Mike Blakely will miss spring practice due to shoulder surgery. That's a real bummer, as it'll just about negate the head start he hoped to get by enrolling early.

This can be said about almost every position for the Gators next season, but the running back spot is going to be really interesting to watch. Charlie Weis will have his work cut out to run a pro-style offense with a bunch of spread scatbacks, and I felt like Blakely could have a shot at early playing time with a good spring.

At 5-foot-9, 194 pounds, Blakely isn't a big bruiser or even an Emmanuel Moody (who gets big bruises), but he runs tough and could be a great every-down back if he adds a little size. If the surgery and missed spring cause him to redshirt, he should be ready to blow up in 2012, but that'll leave this as the RB depth chart for next season:

Jeff Demps (SR, 5-8, 190) Career: 269 carries, 1,901 yds (7.1 ypc), 17 TDs
Chris Rainey (RSR, 5-9, 178) Career: 174 carries, 1,237 yds (7.1 ypc), 9 TDs
Mike Gillislee (JR, 5-11, 198) Career: 89 carries, 592 yds (6.7 ypc), 8 TDs
Mack Brown (RFR, 5-10, 193) Career: 3 carries, 23 yds (7.7 ypc)

Demps is obviously "the man," and he and Rainey should both be looked to as the big play guys, but if Weis wants more of a consistent pro-style threat out of the backfield, I think Gillislee might be the better option. I'd expect to see all four play next year, and it'll be really interesting to see how they're used in an offense that isn't as shotgun-heavy and with an inexperienced offensive line.

Will Muschamp gave the ever-popular "we fit our offense to our players, not the other way around" line when he was hired, but I'll believe that when I see it from Weis. If that's truly the case, next year's offense would have to still feature the spread.

What are you expecting out of this bunch for next year? Who do you want to see leaned on as the main rushing option? Any of these guys have 1,000-yard potential if given the chance?

Jeff Driskel is on campus, what do you expect from him?

Check out this video from the UA All-America Game, which includes plenty of screen time for Jeff Driskel, who most Gators fans hope will be to Florida's offense what Keanu Reeves was to The Matrix.

Driskel's 67-yard touchdown run is at the 2:40 mark, followed by defensive tackle Gabe Wright razzing him on the sideline by calling him Tim Tebow and Cam Newton. Driskel handles that pretty well, but I'm sure he'll get tired of those comparisons and expectations eventually (if he isn't already).

Andre Debose bucked the notion that he's the next Percy Harvin when he came in, and Driskel will probably want to carve out his own legacy too.

Speaking of Debose, here's a funny moment from this season. He was talking about the praying mantis-like technique he uses to catch (and drop) kickoffs, and he was smiling until a reporter said, "You know, Percy catches kicks like that too." Debose shot him a death stare and said, "Yea, well I don't know how Percy catches kicks." Oops.

Anyway, back to the video, Driskel also gets interviewed around the 5-minute mark, and there's some footage of the pregame speeches and a Haka dance as well. I know most of you are fiending for recruiting talk about now, and I promise to have more on it in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, what are you expecting from Driskel this spring and in the fall? Given John Brantley's apparent lack of skill, Jordan Reed's apparent lack of playbook study skills and Trey Burton's apparent lack of an arm, would you rather just throw Driskel in right from the start and get him seasoned? I know there's value to letting a player observe from the sideline and ease into it, but that sure as hell didn't work with Brantley.

As far as expectations go, Driskel is going to have the world on his shoulders, and that's no easy thing to handle. The guy is good and I expect him to be successful, but he's not Tebow, and unfortunately that's what many will demand of him. It'll be fascinating to see how he deals with all that in the spring.

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Let me know what you think. Do your best to stay on topic. Pretty, pretty, pretty please.

OT win gives Gators five in a row

Florida is starting to look like it deserves the hype that had it pegged as favorites to win the SEC this year. With an 81-75, overtime win at Tennessee, the Gators improved to 13-3 and 2-0 in the conference, taking their fifth straight since that head-scratching loss to Jacksonville on Dec. 20.

The Vols have had some really questionable losses, and coach Bruce Pearl had to sit out because he's a bad boy, but they also beat Villanova, Pitt and Memphis, and a win at UT is never something to scoff at.

Pretty balanced game for UF, as all five starters scored in double-digits, and the Gators shot a blazing 52 percent from the field, including hitting 8 of 16 three-pointers. Good to see Alex Tyus lead the way with 18 points and seven rebounds after putting in just two points and three boards against Ole Miss. Florida really needs Tyus (pictured) to be a threat and he hasn't shown that consistently, but let's all stop and applaud him for finally putting an end to one of the worst hairstyles of all time last month.

Also of note, Chandler Parsons went 4-for-5 from downtown, and Billy Donovan played each of his starters for more than 30 minutes. He came close to doing the same in the SEC opener against Ole Miss, where only Tyus came up short at 27 minutes. This is a departure from the sub-happy scheme Donovan used earlier in the season, and it'll be interesting to see what he does as conference play heats up.

Forward/center/beast Patric Young had seven rebounds off the bench, and guard Scottie Wilbekin (pictured rapping alongside Lil Wayne) came in and had three assists and three steals. Both were turnover-free.

Next up is a home meeting with South Carolina on Saturday, and a win there should be enough to get the Gators back in the rankings.

Thoughts on the game? Gotta say that "play" for a winning shot at the end of regulation was pretty pitiful, but other than that it's a good result.

Jenkins returning to Gators for senior season

Year 1 just got quite a bit easier for Will Muschamp. Shockingly, cornerback Janoris Jenkins will come back to UF rather than enter the NFL Draft, where he was expected to be a first-round pick.

“After careful consideration, I’ve made a decision to return to school for my senior year,” the All-SEC selection said in a statement. “I spent some time with my family and coach Muschamp and came to the conclusion it was in my best interest to return to school. Coach Muschamp was very supportive throughout the whole process, regardless of my decision, but he wanted to make sure I had all of the facts. I’m looking forward to working towards my degree, completing my rehab and getting back on the field with my teammates.”

Damn right Muschamp was supportive. He gets to keep a shut-down corner who can hold the opposing team's top wideout in check, as he did to Alabama's Julio Jones (four catches, 19 yards), South Carolina's Alshon Jeffery (six catches, 53 yds) and Georgia's A.J. Green (four catches, 42 yds, TD) this season.

And this has a major domino effect. Now, the No. 2 corner spot will be settled through some intense competition between Jeremy Brown, Moses Jenkins, Cody Riggs, Jaylen Watkins and a few others this offseason, and Jenkins plus the winner of that battle is a much more formidable pairing than the alternative.

It's also a great sign that Muschamp got him to stay. If Jenkins wasn't sold on the new coach, there's no way he'd turn down the NFL to return. Surely the torn labrum that held him out of the Outback Bowl played a role as well, but considering the fact that he played well this season with the injury, I can't imagine it would have scared off too many teams, unless they wanted him to pitch.

“I’m excited that Janoris has made a decision to come back to school,” Muschamp said. “I would have supported him in whatever decision he made, but I commend him for making a mature decision. It would have been real easy for Janoris to make an emotional choice and leave early, but with our contacts in the NFL, we were able to assist him in understanding his draft status and he made an educated decision that will be beneficial to him in the long term.”

Great day for Florida here. Jenkins was considered a sure thing to make the jump; Mike Pouncey even said so before the Outback Bowl, and intrepid ESPN reporter Joe Schad tweeted it last week, which should have been the first clue Jenkins was coming back.

If anyone's upset about this, it's Jelani Jenkins, because this means he has to keep that awkward-looking "Je. Jenkins" on the back of his jersey.

And another reason to be happy: this sets up what would have to be the funniest moment of the year in UF sports, where Will Hill declares for the draft and Jenkins doesn't. If Hill leaves while Jenkins stays, that's the best news Florida's secondary has gotten in a long time.

What'd you think of the Tebow documentary?

"Tim Tebow: Everything in Between," a documentary chronicling Tebow's path to the NFL Draft, just wrapped up on ESPN. I missed the first 15 minutes (which a friend tells me was the best part, of course), but from what I saw, there wasn't anything too groundbreaking.

It airs again later tonight if you missed it, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. Here are some of mine:

-Tebow gave Matthew McConaughey a run for his money in that. Every time I turned around, he was taking his shirt off. I'm sure that was fun for some viewers though.

-The draft-day stuff was pretty cool to watch. Seeing his agent, Jimmy Sexton, working the phones and predicting what would happen was the most interesting part of what I saw. Also, Sexton's reaction to Dez Bryant getting drafted (thus making Tebow a more likely pick) was awesome, and his quote "I still wake up and see Michael Crabtree in the room across from me" about a similar situation was priceless.

-Lots of Tebow working out, and while it's neat to see the work he puts in, that's part of what'll make people leave that documentary saying, "God, I hate Tebow." Plenty of players work themselves into the ground getting ready for the draft, but Tebow is the type of guy who always gets more credit for doing that. He's obviously a really hard worker, as evidenced by him working out with linemen when he got to UF, but that was pretty much the focus of what I saw tonight, and I can see why that leaves those with "Tebow Fatigue" feeling nauseated.

-Also, it's important to keep in mind the source. Sexton was an executive producer, as was UF booster Bill Heavener, who was Bob Tebow's college roommate. Heavener's son made the documentary, and as a kid with a journalism degree, I'm naturally very skeptical of the objectivity of the film. It's not like they have footage of Tebow with strippers and didn't run it, but the film is basically an hour-long ad for Tim Tebow, Inc.

-Still, none of the above is Tebow's fault. He's the kind of player every fan wants on his or her team, and this documentary backed that up. Boy, were the Gators lucky to have him.

-I still have to watch the beginning on the re-run, but from what I saw, I'm keeping the first Tebow documentary ranked above this one. Here's a clip, beginning with my all-time favorite Tebow line: "BIG NUTS!"

 

Gators couldn't have scripted a better ending

The perfect player made the perfect play to give Urban Meyer a perfect ending to his career at UF.

Ahmad Black's 80-yard interception return for touchdown sealed the Gators' 37-24 win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl, earning him the MVP and stopping a promising Nittany Lions' drive with a minute left in the game.

Black was the best player on this team all season, and I'm happy to see his career end on this note. He came to UF as an undersized safety, an add-on to a recruiting class that included high school teammates Chris Rainey, John Brown and Mike and Maurkice Pouncey.

Black said safeties coach Chuck Heater even told him as much during the team's senior tackle ceremony this week, when he joked that the Gators only took Black to get the others.

Four years later, he's the best of the bunch in my book (Maurkice certainly has a claim there too). Black made a laundry list of huge plays in his career, most notably that crazy pick against Oklahoma in the BCS Championship.

He led the team in tackles this year and had two picks Saturday. He returned the first one 49 yards to the 15-yard line in the first quarter, putting UF's offense in a situation where it was a huge challenge to not score. Never fear, they prevailed with a fumble.

Meyer and Black deserved to go out winners, and they both wanted the win for someone else. Meyer gave the game ball to Ian Lockwood, a senior at Navarre High (pictured in orange beanie). He met Lockwood while he was receiving treatment for brain cancer in Gainesville, an illness that cut short his high school football career. Navarre had its best year in school history this season, going 11-2 while using Lockwood for inspiration.

The Gators did the same thing, partly playing this game for Lockwood. Black hugged him and gave him the game ball at a postgame press conference, a scene that had Lockwood choking back tears.

“I asked these guys to do whatever we could to get a game ball to Ian Lockwood," Meyer said. That meant we had to go four quarters as hard as possible and find a way to get that ball and brighten someone’s day.”

This game was very, very sloppy and mostly poorly played, but that's not how I'll remember it. I'll remember watching Black go streaking down the sideline after jumping a drag route. And I'll remember the scene on the field afterward, watching Meyer celebrate with his family (he either wasn't emotional or did a great job hiding it) after I snuck into the background of his postgame interview to get on TV looking like a super creepy stalker.

Sure, I'll also remember all the times Florida played LIKE THIS, but Black at least put a positive spin on the end of the year. Winning the Outback Bowl against a mediocre Penn State team doesn't mean much, especially not for a team that started the year with BCS hopes, but take a step back and look at what this game meant for the three people on the right side of that photo, and suddenly things change.

Meyer also made the point that the win makes life a lot easier for Will Muschamp, as a team coming off a win is much different in the offseason from one that ends with a loss. Now, it's all about Muschamp's staff coming together, and I expect they'll have all that set in the next few days.

What'd you think of the game? Does this make up for any of the sorrow from the rest of the year?

Gators take aim at Weis for OC job

Gainesville-area restaurateurs are popping open some wine bottles in celebration tonight. No, not for New Year's, but because Charlie Weis is rumored to be Florida's next offensive coordinator.

OK, cheap shot. But I'm just preparing you. Get ready for a lot of fat jokes from your friends.

First off, let's wait and see if this actually happens. Remember how Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was a "done deal" to take the same job with the Gators? Yea, well he said this week he never even talked to Will Muschamp about it. Then there was that whole Major Applewhite thing.

The bottom line is that we'll all know for sure in a few days. Muschamp and athletics director Jeremy Foley both said they'd wait until after the bowl game to announce new hires. After all, Muschamp technically isn't even coach yet. Until then, it's all "sources" and "hearing," and I'm not a big fan of all that.

But this does make sense, and Weis would be a great, high-profile hire, which goes a long way in a game where recruiting is everything. Muschamp said at his introductory press conference that he wanted a pro-style OC with experience in college and the NFL. Check. Weis coached Notre Dame (because Urban Meyer snubbed them) and is now with the Kansas City Chiefs, who are 10-5, playoff-bound and rank ninth in total offense and 11th in scoring.

If Weis does accept (if he's even been offered), he'll be pretty far behind in the recruiting game this year. He'd have to wait until after the Chiefs' season ends to get going.

No matter who Muschamp brings in, it's going to take a lot of work to revive this outfit. What do you think of Weis as offensive coordinator? It's a huge name, and I'd think that would sway John Brantley to stick around (which you may or may not want to hear).

Are you pumped about this or holding out for someone better?

 

The pressure is on for these Gators

When Urban Meyer quit, the thinking went that Florida would romp in the Outback Bowl to send him out with a win. But there's a bigger reason why the Gators should have some extra motivation against Penn State.

There's a new boss in town, and the players have to impress Will Muschamp to try and get on his good side. Muschamp observed some practices in Gainesville and hasn't been very hands-on here in Tampa this week, but he'll be watching on Saturday. As you'd expect from a team that's 7-5, there aren't a ton of people who've locked down jobs for next season, so everyone should be sitting up a little straigher in meetings and running a little harder in practice.

The pressure is really on for a few guys though. A fresh start will give some a chance to shine with a clean slate, but others need to step it up if they want to keep their places on the depth chart.

QB John Brantley: This is the big one. As is the case with several guys on this list, UF's current staff is very loyal to Brantley despite his struggles, and he'll have to do something impressive if he wants to win over the new staff. There isn't a reason to think Muschamp is excited about plugging Brantley into his offense, and at the same time, Muschamp may have to talk Brantley into staying. He said this offseason he wasn't sure whether he'd stay in Gainesville or transfer. How well Brantley and Muschamp's yet-to-be-named offensive coordinator hit it off will probably be the deciding factor.

WR Deonte Thompson: Another guy who won Urban's trust, then lost the ability to catch (it's debatable whether he ever had it, I guess). Deonte hasn't been as bad as he'll probably be remembered, but he hasn't played like a No. 1 or even a good No. 2 receiver. Fresh eyes in the coaches' booth spell trouble for Thompson, and he desperately needs to flash some potential. There isn't a ton of young talent behind him, but if Thompson isn't going to play like a veteran leader, Muschamp might as well play his backups to get them experience. I'd suggest Thompson brings his new coaches a tray of piping hot coffee every morning to display his steady hands. Hopefully there's First Aid nearby.

TE/WR/FB/QB Trey Burton: Not hating on Burton here, he's just an interesting case. He's obviously a unique player, and Meyer will no doubt talk him up to Muschamp. But where will he fit in? Burton does many things well but nothing spectacularly, and though he carved out a niche in Meyer's system, that role may not be present in the new offense. I have little doubt he'll impress the hell out of all his new coaches with his attitude and work ethic, and there's also an opportunity here for Burton. If he plays well enough, maybe he could even swing a full-time quarterback gig.

LB Jon Bostic: Bostic fell out of favor in the second half of the season, with defensive coordinator Teryl Austin criticizing his play and lightening his responsibility. By virtue of his size, Bostic needs to step up and be UF's middle linebacker going forward, but Jelani Jenkins & Co. aren't just handing that over. Muschamp is a defensive-minded coach, and he'll be looking for leaders on that side of the ball early. Time for Bostic to get himself together and seize the fresh start.

CB Jeremy Brown: Meyer seemed to like Brown a lot, and he returned from a serious back injury to land a starting job this season. But he also faded down the stretch, even losing playing time to Cody Riggs near the end of the year. Janoris Jenkins is likely headed to the NFL, but there's a lot of competition at corner, and Brown could easily land on the sidelines.

S Will Hill: If you need a good laugh, read the italicized words below. If you don't need a laugh, skip over it and save it for a rainy day. Will Hill may enter the NFL Draft. Yep. Wow. Mike Pouncey said this week Hill is probably going pro, which is incredible to me, mostly because Will Hill doesn't appear to be good at football. Sure, he's a great athlete and was a coveted recruit, but Hill has been living off that reputation for too long. He takes bad angles, regularly blows coverage and is in obvious need of more experience, but maybe he feels like he'd be better served learning on the fly. If he's coming back, Hill definitely needs to display some competence, or he could find himself even futher from his NFL dreams.

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OK, your turn. Who do you think needs to make a big splash for Muschamp? Who do you want to see take advantage of a fresh start? Got any good stories of someone desperately trying to impress a new employer?

 

What's your favorite Urban Meyer moment?

Urban Meyer began what's looking like his next career on Wednesday, when he showed up in studio to do SportsCenter and the halftime show of Boise State-Utah. In case you missed it, here's part of it.

He also broke down some film at halftime, and he seemed like a good fit in the analyst chair despite not being a natural on TV (I'm sure that will change the more he does it). Some of the highlights:

• He admitted that his stance on the BCS depends on where he's coaching.
• He said the one thing he wished he'd understood before coming to UF was the intensity of the SEC, something he expects Will Muschamp to be well-prepared for.
• In a moment of unintentional humor, he said he plans to be "knee deep into my kids and my wife" after the Outback Bowl.
• As you'd expect, he said Tim Tebow is "frustrated" with the way the Broncos' season has gone.

For me, the most interesting part was when Meyer was asked about his favorite moment as the Gators' coach. His pick came from the BCS Championship against Oklahoma, when he gathered the offense together after Ahmad Black's incredible interception. With 10 minutes left and a 3-point lead, Meyer told his players that if they could drive 76 yards, they'd be national champs.

Looking around that huddle, he said, was his favorite moment as coach. Almost seven minutes later, David Nelson capped the drive with a touchdown catch, sending Florida to a 24-14 win.

I like his choice. As a coach, what more could you ask for than being in that situation with Tebow, Percy Harvin, the Pounceys, Louis Murphy, Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper, etc?

And as Florida fans, I'd imagine there aren't many people you'd rather have coaching your team. So what's your favorite memory of Meyer? I'd take his reaction to the 2006 title, when he hoisted the crystal ball while wearing a leather jacket and smiling for what seemed like the first time in weeks.

UPDATE: Just came across this. Awesome:

Try to find video for your favorite moments.

Highlights from Muschamp's debut

I'm about to hop on a plane for a week snowboarding in Utah, so sorry if this isn't my usual, well-thought-out, impeccably written post that provokes all the thoughtful discourse in the comments section that we know and love.

Anyway, Will Muschamp had his first press conference as Florida's coach Tuesday. Here are the highlights:

1. Offensive Coordinator

Muschamp said he doesn't plan to hire assistants until after the bowl game, and most likely in response to all those Kirby Smart rumors from Monday, he offered this:

"I have zero timetable on hiring a staff," Muschamp said. "It's not about doing the easiest thing, it's not about doing the quickest thing, it's about making the best decision, and that's what we need to do for the University of Florida right now.

"There has been no one offered a job in the country right now by the University of Florida to work on our football staff, regardless of what you read. There's one source in this football program, and that's me, and there's one guy hiring coaches and that's me. So nobody has been offered a job, and let me make sure everybody understands that before we walk out of here tonight."

Now, as to your biggest fear, it probably won't be Steve Addazio who gets the OC gig. When you're back from your naked victory lap around the block (and done thawing yourself), meet me at the next paragraph.

Muschamp said he plans to run a "pro-style attack" on offense and defense, and he prefers an OC with experience both in college and the NFL. It's too early to speculate on what will happen, but no matter whom he hires, the new coach will have to alter his scheme to fit the players who are there.

2. Brantley's future uncertain

The biggest question remains: Who will be Muschamp's first quarterback? Rumors have been flying that John Brantley wants to transfer after the season, and he did little to dispel that Tuesday. He said he'll talk to his family and make a decision, and it sounded like he was waiting to see who gets hired as the coordinator.

Now, losing Brantley isn't a huge deal based on his play this season, but who knows if he'd be better in a different system? And a lot will also depend on Jeff Driskel, who's due to enroll at UF in the spring.

3. Muschamp is waaaaay different from Urban Meyer in terms of personality

I can't express how bizarre it was to see someone other than Meyer at the lectern today, and Muschamp really owned it. He's a very polished public speaker, and he went for 40 minutes including a 20-minute opening statement.

That long-winded debut was a big departure from Meyer's style, and he has the southern accent and demeanor to match an SEC coach. He cracked me up when he told a story about his mom wanting "to get her picture made" with Cris Collinsworth back in the day. Good ol' southern boy.

With that said, Jeremy Foley talked about the similarities he sees between Muschamp, Meyer, Billy Donovan and Kevin O'Sullivan. Foley saw each of those guys as "perfict fits" at Florida, and that's why he was so quick to hire Muschamp.

“Everybody was expecting him to be the next head coach at Texas, so I don’t think it’s a gamble,” Foley said. “I think he’ll fit here. He reminds me a lot of Billy, he reminds me a lot of Sully, and he reminds me a lot of Urban. Time will tell, and at the end of the day, he has to win some football games.”

4. Muschamp wants Meyer around the program

Before he accepted the job, Muschamp said he felt like he needed to talk to Meyer. He did, and since meeting him, he wants Urban to stick around once the bowl game is done.

"The more I’ve talked to him, the more I like him," Muschamp said. "I can tell you this right now, as long as Will Muschamp is the head coach at the University of Florida, Urban Meyer is going to be involved in this program.

“He’ll be a great sounding board for me, and he needs to be involved in this program for our players because he’s the one who recruited them all.”

Oh yea, Muschamp uses third-person too.

5. This transition won't be easy for the Gators

A few players were brought in after the press conference, and it's clear they still aren't quite over the shock of losing Meyer. He's still their coach til the Outback Bowl (Muschamp will be observing), but the thought of life after hasn't really sunk in yet.

“I had to look at the screen a couple of times, like, ‘Am I seeing things?’” defensive tackle Jaye Howard said of observing the press conference.

“I kind of had a gut feeling this whole year that it was possible (for Meyer to retire)” Howard added. “He wasn’t the same coach. He used to be yelling at everybody and all that. I took it hard because I love coach Meyer to death, but I know he had to make the best decision for his family.”

Muschamp had his first meeting with the team today, and Frankie Hammond made it sound like it was a little awkward at first, as you'd expect.

“A lot of us were pretty standoffish, but he got us going and let us know that he was the head coach nothing was pretty much going to change,” Hammond said.

6. Two quick stories

You probably heard about this by now, but Muschamp and FSU coach Jimbo Fisher co-own a beach house together from their days coaching at LSU: “We haven’t negotiated what will happen with that yet.”

And when Muschamp was trying to find a place to play college ball (he was a promising HS safety before a leg injury), he arranged a meeting with Steve Spurrier to discuss a walk-on spot at Florida. Spurrier was a no-show: “He was 2-under at the turn,” Muschamp joked.

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So what'd you think of Muschamp's debut? Did you catch a glimpse of me in my fly purple shirt on TV? Feel like testing my vigilance as a comment-deleter? I'M WATCHING YOU.

Gators hire Will Muschamp. Cool, now about that offense...

"Florida coach Will Muschamp." It sounds weird because it's not Urban Meyer, but this is a good hire for the Gators.

Rumors started swirling tonight that Muschamp would be the next coach at UF, especially after Trey Burton tweeted "Welcome to the Gator nation coach!!" and then promptly deleted it. UF confirmed the news on its website, with athletics director Jeremy Foley saying Muschamp was the only candidate he interviewed.

Muschamp comes to Gainesville from Texas, where he's been defensive coordinator since 2008 (he held the same position at Auburn in 2006 and 2007). The Longhorns like him enough that they named him Mack Brown's successor, but the 39-year-old won't be sticking around long enough in Austin for that to happen.

It's a homecoming of sorts for Muschamp, who spent part of his childhood living in Gainesville before returning to Georgia, his birthplace. He's an SEC guy, a good recruiter and a solid defensive coach, which is all great, but that still leaves that giant elephant in the room: the offense.

Muschamp will be introduced at UF on Tuesday, and all the talk will likely be centered around whom he'll choose as his offensive coordinator if he hasn't announced one by then. For all the Steve Addazio haters (read: everyone reading this), this is good news. Muschamp's hire probably means a shake-up on the staff.

Muschamp isn't an offensive mind and most Gators fans are offensive-minded, so all eyes will be on what happens next. If you're Muschamp, which current assistants do you keep? I'd hang on to Chuck Heater for sure and maybe Teryl Austin, but beyond that, I'd probably clean house.

How do you feel about this hire?

 

After years of talk, Urban finally did the right thing

I've heard Urban Meyer preach about what it means to be a man and the importance of family for the last four years, and while I took what he said to be a good lesson, it always lost some strength since he didn't seem to be following his own advice.

He almost did last year, but his resignation lasted just 24 hours. I'll never forget his daughter Nicki talking to reporters after the Sugar Bowl, and it was crystal clear how much she missed her dad and was worried about his health.

Her fears and Meyer's own worries weren't enough to pull him away from coaching, but that changed Wednesday, when he put family before football. He gave up his bigtime coaching job, giant salary and the spotlight for his children.

He's going to serve as an assistant coach for his son Nate's baseball team this spring, and he plans on seeing his daughters Nicki and Gigi play college volleyball next season.

This was the decision that fit the lines he always fed the media in press conferences and his players in the locker room, and he deserves a lot of respect for it.

To be honest, I never really liked Meyer as a person. Granted, the coach-reporter relationship doesn't provide enough insight to judge someone's character, but in my almost daily interactions with him from 2007-2009, he rarely provided any reason for me to like him. He was often condescending, terse and, well, an asshole.

That changed this season. Maybe it was because he relaxed a bit in light of his health scare. Maybe it was because he scaled back his media appearances by two days per week. Or maybe it was because the Gators weren't good. At any rate, he finally flashed a personality and let loose some of the dry wit that his players always talk about. A few of my favorite moments:

• Early in the season, when reporters were hounding him to find out what responsibilities he had dropped to reduce his stress, someone asked about a player changing numbers. Meyer said he didn't know because he doesn't coach the numbers, then paused and said, "I delegated that" and started laughing, which he doesn't do often.
• He left his shades in an interview room after the three-game losing streak, and when he came back to get them, a reporter told him he almost stole them and put them on eBay. Meyer: "You would have gotten more for them last year."
• When a reporter kept asking leading questions that basically insinuated the reporter felt he knew how to give a better pep talk than Meyer, he smiled, took off his whistle, tossed it to the reporter and said, "Here, you coach them."

None of these are going to put you on the floor rolling with laughter, but the fact that I remember them tells you how rare it was for him to crack jokes before this year. This was the first season I'd seen him say and do things for the sole purpose of being funny, and that signaled a major change in attitude to me.

All in all, he's going out a millionaire with plenty of life ahead of him. He said he wasn't ruling out coaching again, but he wouldn't think about that right away.

By virtue of his two national titles, he should be remembered as Florida's greatest coach (I know plenty of you will argue that, but two is more than one). He gave the Gators all he had for six years, and if he's truly going to put that same effort toward being a husband and father now, he deserves nothing but respect and admiration for the decision.

Of course, he could end up coaching again in the next three years and ruin all these nice things I just wrote about him, but I'm hoping he doesn't. I'm hoping he's really going to walk the walk.

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What are your thoughts? Angry at Meyer for leaving or do you think he did the right thing? Is anyone happy he's gone? If you are, you're going to need to back that up pretty strongly. I'll be deleting the nonsense. You know who you are.

He gone: Gators coach Urban Meyer steps down

Well, you got your wish. Steve Addazio is probably out as offensive coordinator, but Urban Meyer is gone too.

According to a UF release, Meyer began thinking about retirement over the weekend, and he and athletics director Jeremy Foley finalized it Tuesday. There will be a press conference at 6, and until then, it's pointless to do a ton of speculating. Meyer will coach the team through the Outback Bowl.

Gator Clause founder Joe Goodman and I had this talk at the beginning of the season, and we both felt this would happen after this season if things went badly. He can't bring UF back to national prominence without going back to his former workhorse coaching style, and it isn't worth it to him for the costs to his family and health.

Here's what Meyer had to say in the release:

“I have been a Division I football coach for the last 25 years and, during that time, my primary focus has been helping my teams win titles,” Meyer said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and I am a fierce competitor to my core. At this time in my life, however, I appreciate the sacrifices my 24/7 profession has demanded of me, and I know it is time to put my focus on my family and life away from the field. The decision to step down was a difficult one.

“But after spending more than two decades motivating and celebrating the young men I’ve been so proud to coach, I relish the opportunity to cheer for my three terrific kids as they compete in their own respective sports. I know how fortunate I am to be in a position to make this choice and to have a family that is as loving and supportive as my amazing wife and children have always been.”

I'll have more later today.

Record be damned, Gators are Outback Bowl-bound

Really, why do we pay attention to college football? This system is a joke.

The latest example of why: Florida is headed to the Outback Bowl to play Penn State, thereby leaping over South Carolina (Chick-fil-A Bowl) and Mississippi State (Gator Bowl), two teams that finished with better records (UF 7-5, USC 9-4, MSU 8-4) and beat the Gators. Shockingly, I was completely wrong.

Now, this is great for UF. Instead of settling into the Gator Bowl as deserved and taking an expected payout of about $2.7 million, they'll get about $3.5 mil to play in Tampa, and if I'm not mistaken, I get a free bloomin' onion.

There is absolutely no way the Gators deserve to be there, but as Snoop from The Wire said, "Deserve got nothing to do with it." Money does. The Outback Bowl chose them for financial reasons, hoping for better TV viewership and more fans in the stands. This is all allowed and probably a smart business decision, it just reinforces that this sport isn't really about football or entertaining you, it's just about the dolla dolla bills, y'all.

Here's a look at the bowls for UF, USC and MSU, in order of prestige. Overall records, conference records and place in the SEC standings are in parentheses:

Outback Bowl: Florida (7-5, 4-4, T-6th)
Chick-fil-A Bowl: South Carolina (9-4, 5-3, T-4th, beat Florida, East Champs)
Gator Bowl: Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4, T-6th, beat Florida)

The Gamecocks and Bulldogs both got screwed here. Like I said, great news for Florida to get into this game. But at the same time, this bid solidifies my opinion that no one should pay any attention to bowls.

How do you feel about this? Does it hurt your excitement for the game knowing the Gators didn't earn their spot? Or are you so used to the crooked-ness of this sport that it's all good?

What bowl matchup do you want to see the Gators in?

It sure feels like Florida's season is over, but don't worry, there's still one more chance for the Gators to frustrate the hell out of you before next year.

There's no marquee bowl appearance to cap 2010 for UF, but there are still a few intriguing possibilities out there. As of me writing this, it looks like the best quarterback in Florida history is going to lead Auburn to an SEC title, and this is good news for the Gators' bowl projection. An Auburn win puts the Tigers in the BCS Championship and leaves an at-large spot for another SEC team (Arkansas), thus bumping all the mediocre teams like UF up a spot.

Here's the breakdown of what I expect:

The Sugar, Capital One, Cotton and Outback Bowls are all out of reach, leaving the Chick-fil-A, Gator and Music City Bowls as the three most likely destinations (in order of prestige). People-who-supposedly-know-things have been saying it'll be Florida-Penn St. in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, and the Gator Bowl certainly seems to be the favorite.

I know, I know, all you're really wondering is "CAN FLORIDA PLAY MIAMI SO WE CAN ALL STOP FIGHTING IN THE COMMENTS SECTION AND FIGHT IN REAL LIFE?!?!?!" Unfortunately, it doesn't look likely. The Chick-fil-A and Music City Bowls are both SEC vs. ACC, but the chicken-themed one is a bit lofty for both Florida and Miami, while they're both a tad too good for the trip to Nashville.

An Auburn loss could get the Gators closer to the Music City Bowl though, so pull for that if "The Battle For The Title Of Florida's Second-Or-Third-Best Team" is what you want to see.

So, if it's going to be the Gator Bowl, which Big 10 powerhouse do you want to see UF go up against? No question in my mind that Illinois would be the most fun (ZOOK!), but the Nittany Lions would be a good draw because they suck too, and Florida could close out the season with a win against a big name.

Also, let's say you're Urban Meyer and you get offered a Music City Bowl spot against a .500 Georgia Tech team. Any chance you try to reject the bid and send a message? Meyer won't (and UF wouldn't let him), but would you?

P.S. If Miami and Florida do end up playing each other, I'll pick a bar and we'll have a Gator Clause get-together. I'll have police on standby.

Dan McCarney leaving gives Gators fans something new to worry about: the d-line

Allow me to distract you from your fretting over the Gators' offense and terrify you with what's looking like a major problem on defense!

As had been expected for a few days, UF defensive line coach Dan McCarney (pictured back in the 90s) left Tuesday to take over as the head coach at North Texas, and while he tries to rebuild a program that hasn't won more than three games in a season since 2004, whoever succeeds him at Florida has his work cut out for him.

The Gators will lose five defensive linemen to graduation: DEs Justin Trattou and Duke Lemmens, and DTs Terron Sanders, Lawrence Marsh and Brandon Antwine. None of these five were world-beaters, but they all had their moments and the crop behind them is pretty short on experience.

Omar Hunter and Jaye Howard will be back inside (though there are rumors Howard is going to take a look at the NFL Draft). Beyond them, it'll be freshmen Sharrif Floyd and Dominique Easley, the top two DTs in the 2010 recruiting class. A lot of potential there, and Floyd looked good at times this season, but Easley struggled with an apparent attitude problem, and losing a solid DL coach probably won't help the situation.

The end spot is also pretty worrisome. Ronald Powell, the top DE recruit last year, is almost sure to be a freak, and he'll have Lerentee McCray, William Green and Earl Okine as his likely competition. Miami native and 6-foot-7 giant Lynden Trail could play too, depending on his offseason.

But the Gators are looking a bit rough on the d-line for next year, and they need to replace McCarney with another slam-dunk hire. McCarney is the eighth assistant to take a head-coaching job after leaving Urban Meyer's side, and he's the exact kind of person Meyer needs around. McCarney was Iowa State's head coach for 12 seasons, and with guys like him, Charlie Strong, Dan Mullen and Chuck Heater around in years past, Meyer basically had a staff of head coaches to make his life easier (and help keep that stress level down).

“I’m happy for coach McCarney and his family,” Meyer said. “He has a proven track record as a head coach, and we were fortunate to have him on our staff for the last three years. He did a great job with our defensive line, and I fully expect him to be successful at North Texas.”

McCarney leaving punches a big hole in Meyer's entourage, and he won't be easy to replace.

And this sucks for reporters too. McCarney was great with the media. He was honest, he was a good quote, and he oozed competence. So everyone loses here except for North Texas. This has already made an impact in recruiting, as four-star defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan pulled out of his verbal commitment to UF.

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How worried are you about the defensive line next season? Think McCarney will be easy to replace?

 

"I'm happy for Coach McCarney and his family. He has a proven track record as a head coach and we were fortunate to have him on our staff for the last three years. He did a great job with our defensive line and I fully expect him to be successful at North Texas."

Here's why the Gators getting smoked at Doak was a good thing

Much like the South Carolina game offered Florida a chance to right its wrongs by reaching the SEC Championship, the Gators were handed another golden opportunity Saturday in Tallahassee: Beat Florida State and take some of the sting out of this massive disappointment of a season.

With a win over the Noles, UF would have extended its win streak in the series to a whopping seven games, gained some traction with recruits, put itself in a better bowl game and maybe (MAYBE) even have saved offensive coordinator Steve Addazio his job.

Instead, the Gators' effort (pictured, left) was probably their worst of the season, putting a rotting cherry atop a pretty crappy sundae with a 31-7 loss.

But UF fans should be at least a little happy about this. Here's why:

1. The loss doesn't matter that much

Yea, Florida lost to its rival, but who cares? After six years of bragging rights, Gators fans needed a little humility, and at least they didn't have to watch this happen at The Swamp. FSU was bound to win one, and there were no national title hopes or a Heisman Trophy on the line, so this is the year to get that loss out of the way.

Like I said, a win makes the season more tolerable, but the loss doesn't make it all that much worse. UF played the same way against the Noles that it has against every ranked team: bad. That's what bad teams do.

2. Something will have to change

The beating was so thorough that Urban Meyer can't possibly go through this offseason without making some changes. That could mean Addazio, it could mean John Brantley, it could mean the offensive system, but I'd feel pretty confdient that Meyer will shake things up. That was the tone of his postgame press conference, where he mostly talked about the need to right the ship. Part of that, he said, is getting "tough-ass players and tough-ass coaches."

Take it from Alabama coach Nick Saban's wise and somewhat inappropriate words of wisdom after his team lost to Louisiana-Monroe in 2007:

"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, and that was a catastrophic event."

Exactly.

3. This is one for the bulletin board

Florida has always drawn motivation from big losses, and this is one of those unforgettable failures that will rank up there with Georgia and LSU in 2007 and Ole Miss in 2008.

The Gators need something to push them through the offseason, and ending it with this kind of embarrassment is sure to leave a mark.

4. The rivalry is back

This one isn't for all of you, but if you can step back and look at it somewhat objectively, everyone wins because this is a rivalry again. No one beats their rival every year, and if they did, it would suck the life out of the game.

Now, FSU has something to hang its hat on, and while you're going to have to deal with some trash talk, it'll make next year's game more fun.

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What do you hope Florida takes from this game? I know you're going to say "Fire Addazio!!!!!" and probably something about Miami, but I'm looking for something deeper than that if you have it. Comments have been top-notch lately. Keep it rolling.

And remember, there's a huge party and you're invited!

Some simple math to fix the Gators' offense (UPDATED)

As an astute reporter (not me -- locked my keys in my car so I didn't go) pointed out during Urban Meyer's press conference Monday, the Gators scored on all seven drives where they used a dual-threat quarterback against Appalachian State and their only non-scoring possessions came when John Brantley was the lone signal-caller.

This was Meyer's response:

"I guess we've got to get some dual-threat quarterback in there. I usually know all the stats. I'm going to go up there and write that right up on the board. I think that threat is real, especially the quality of player that they are and the threat that they give you, so it's interesting."

Damn right the threat is real, and that's something Meyer shouldn't need stats to prove to him. Every step of his head-coaching career, he's leaned on a dual-threat quarterback, and this is the first time he hasn't been able to choose one from among players he recruited (Cam Newton certainly hurt that streak).

Here are some more stats for Meyer's board from the last three games since Jordan Reed joined Brantley and Trey Burton at QB.

In those three games, Florida has had 37 offensive drives, not counting kneel-downs. Of those, 14 have featured Brantley as the lone QB. The other 23 have used either just Reed or some combination of two or three. Here are the numbers:

Brantley-only: 14 drives, one TD (a 3-yard drive), 142 yards, two INTs, eight punts, two turnovers on downs and a fumble.

Combo/Reed-only: 23 drives, 13 TDs, 1,075 yards, INT, five punts and four turnovers on downs.

The average Brantley-only drive yields 10.1 yards, with a TD every 14 possessions and a punt 57 percent of the time. The average "Other" drive leads to 46.7 yards, a TD every 1.77 possessions and a punt 22 percent of the time.

Wow.

Here it is game by game:

vs. App St.

Just Brantley: three drives, zero TDs, 110 yards, INT, punt, turnover on downs.

Other: seven drives, seven TDs, 431 yards.

vs. South Carolina

Just Brantley: Six drives, zero TDs, 27 yards, INT, four punts, fumble.

Other: Six drives, one TD, 184 yards, two punts, three turnovers on downs.

*Other QBs were used for 10 plays on the final drive, compared to just 11 before that point. Meyer admitted to panicking and abandoning Burton and Reed too early in the game.

at Vanderbilt

Just Brantley: five drives, TD, five yards, three punts, turnover on downs.

Other: 10 drives, five TDs, 460 yards, INT, three punts, turnover on downs.

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Now, this doesn't just come down to "Brantley sucks, get him out of there." He still contributed to those other successful drives. The point is, Florida can't win by just using Brantley. It's a combination of UF's coaches not knowing how to run an offense without a mobile quarterback (especially with banged-up RBs) and Brantley not playing very well.

The other thing to consider is that App St. and Vandy are terrible, and those games really skewed this comparison. But there are only three games to go off of here, and all three have held the same conclusion. The Gators can't win without some creativity at quarterback.

UPDATE: Since I posted this, some of you have raised a good point: What about all the times Brantley drives the team down the field and then gets yanked in the red zone? In those cases, he's doing a great job and then Reed/Burton come in and hijack the drive, thus ruining my little study.

Except it doesn't. Remember, these are only from the last three games because those are the games where all three QBs have been used. Of those 13 TD drives, there was only one where he ran the show all the way to the red zone. That came against App St., when the Gators marched from their 42 to the ASU 4 and then Reed came in.

Here's the point folks: Whether you think it's his fault for not playing well or the coaches' for not using him correctly, Brantley can not run this offense alone. I'd say that has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt at this point. He either needs a healthy Jeff Demps to go nuts out of the backfield (probably not going to happen this season) or he needs the regular threats of Reed and Burton to mix things up.

Which Gators senior will you miss the most?

 Saturday against Appalachian State is your last chance to see Florida's seniors play in The Swamp, and while this year's class isn't as star-studded as in years past, there are a few big names departing and some others who never quite met the expectations they arrived with.

Here's a list of the main contributors from the senior class. Let me know who you'll miss the most (I made some package deals so it'd be more fun).

The Ballers

SS Ahmad Black

As safeties coach Chuck Heater said Wednesday, Black was a bit of an afterthought in the 2007 recruiting class. But he's played like a five-star.

2010 has been a disappointing year for just about every Florida player, but Black is one of the few Gators you can watch every week and expect a solid performance. He rarely makes mistakes, seems to slip past blockers without any trouble at all and almost always wraps up on tackles.

Urban Meyer once said that no matter what happens, Black is always in football position, joking that you could throw him and he'd land in an athletic stance: "He's like a cat." That's easy to see from his play, and Heater said an NFL scout told him this week that Black is the best tackler he's seen in college this season.

He leads the Gators with 93 tackles, including 63 solo and 10 for loss. Jelani Jenkins is second at 60. That's equal parts condemning of UF's defense and a great achievement for Black. And he's always had a knack for making big plays, most notably the interception against Oklahoma in the BCS Championship (pictured).

P Chas Henry

If not for Black, I'd say Henry is the best player on the team. For real. Henry leads the nation in punting average at 47.44 yards per, and especially for a special teams-obsessed coach like Meyer, he's a big deal.

Think about how many games you've watched where a punter gets blocked or shanks one and the game turns on the play. That almost never happens with Henry. Obviously his field goal skills are lacking at times, but he did hit the game-winner against Georgia, and that isn't his job anyway.

You may not think much of it now, but you'll notice his absence when he's gone. Hopefully Meyer lets Henry (a high school QB) unleash one against Appalachian State. You know they'll have to punt a few times.

C Mike Pouncey

Y'all probably have some mixed feelings on this one. Pouncey is clearly one of the team's biggest leaders  and best players, just not at his new position. He sums up this team to me: he's good, he's just not good this year and no one will admit it. Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio gets offended anytime Mike is criticized, and he said this week that Pouncey would be a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft.

Unfortunately, his awful snapping in the season opener will probably be the lasting image of his play in 2010, but think back to the last couple years and remember the good times. He was an excellent guard and even played on the defensive line as a freshman. He and his brother Maurkice should stand as two of the best linemen in school history, and their personalities made them fan favorites.

The Package Deals

DEs Justin Trattou and Duke Lemmens

Trattou didn't quite meet expectations this season, but he had a good career at UF. As a backup to Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham, he was stellar, and he played a big role in the Gators' 3-3-5 Joker defense. But Trattou was supposed to be the stud on this year's team and the main pass-rushing force. Instead: two sacks and zero QB hurries.

Lemmens is the gritty veteran who hoped to burst onto the scene this year. He played well as a hybrid linebacker in the Gators' heavy package defense, but he hasn't exactly wowed anyone either: four sacks, five QB hurries. The idea of this long-haired tandem harrassing quarterbacks and celebrating is a fun one, but it never really came true.

RB Emmanuel Moody and WR Carl Moore

We'll call this the high-hopes, low output crew. Both transferred to UF amidst much fanfare, as Moody was supposed to be the big back the Gators needed and Moore was to provide freakish athleticism on the outside. Instead, both have been plagued by injuries and only shown spurts of their potential.

Moody flashed a tough running style at times in 2009 and Moore found a niche as an incredibly reliable third-down target this year, but both will leave Gainesville with a lot of unfinished business left behind.

LBs A.J. Jones, Brandon Hicks and Lorenzo Edwards

Jones was a key player for a few seasons, and Hicks and Edwards never really broke out. Hicks has always been solid, but he and Jones didn't do anything jaw-dropping this season and Edwards' career pretty much amounted to this year. Hicks and Edwards are two guys who would have benefitted a lot from a redshirt, and it's hard to believe they never got one. Another year and I think they could have been special players. That's the catch-22 of succeeding as a freshman on special teams. The coaches like you, but you lose a year.

OLs Carl Johnson, Marcus Gilbert and Maurice Hurt

Ouch. That's 995 pounds of redshirt senior walking out the door in addition to Pouncey. Johnson and Gilbert both had solid careers, and Hurt was always a good, versatile fill-in. The line has been far from the stellar unit that was expected coming into the year, but I can't imagine it getting any better with all these departures.

DTs Terron Sanders, Lawrence Marsh and Brandon Antwine

Yikes again. These three have all been reliable (when healthy) and losing all three will be tough, especially if Jaye Howard jumps to the NFL, which supposedly is on the table. If that happens, it'll be up to Omar Hunter, Sharrif Floyd and Dominique Easley to hold down the fort inside in 2011. Hunter is good, Floyd has looked fine when he's played, but the transfer rumors around Easley are a cause for concern.

Meyer said Easley--who didn't travel with the team to Vanderbilt for unspecified disciplinary reasons--is eligible to play this weekend, and they should probably get him some experience since he'll have to play next year.

CB Janoris Jenkins

Not a senior, but this is probably it. Jenkins will be one of the top-rated corners entering the NFL Draft, and the Pahokee native will probably follow in Joe Haden's footsteps if it looks like he'll be a first-round pick.

If you're going to the game Saturday, take a good, long look at Jenkins, because I doubt you'll see him take the field at The Swamp again.

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Anyway, all these goodbyes are a downer. Here's a fun video that pretty much sums up all you need to know about Appalachian State:

 

Is Cam Newton better than Tim Tebow? Seriously.

All season, I've looked at it this way: Florida will forever be searching for the next Tim Tebow, and the Gators had that on campus with Cam Newton and let him get away.

But what if Tebow was the first Newton?

Obviously, Newton is having an unbelieveable year at Auburn, but I hadn't really considered that he might be even better than Tebow until Gator Clause founder Joe Goodman made that claim in his Newton column last week. As we all know, Joe's a huge Auburn Homer/Gator Hater, so I'll stop short of saying that just yet.

But it's definitely worth discussing, which is a pretty big deal considering Tebow was being hailed as the greatest college football player of all time less than a year ago.

Let's break it down. Newton could very well be one-and-done, so comparing the scope of their careers is impossible. I'm using Tebow's numbers from 2007 against Newton's this year, since both are from their first years as D-1 starters and (probably) Heisman-winning caliber.

Keep in mind that Newton's stats are from 11 games (he has three left) while Tebow's are from 13.

PASSING

Tebow: 234 of 350 (66.9 percent), 3,286 yds (9.4 yds per attempt), 32 TDs, 6 INT, 172.47 rating

Newton: 135 of 198 (68.2 percent), 2,038 yds (10.3 yds per attempt), 21 TDs, 6 INT, 183.58 rating

Edge: Tim. Newton is very efficient, but Tebow was much more effective through the air. Both of them benefitted from their running ability making it easier to throw, but Tebow could beat defenses with his arm alone, and that's something Newton hasn't shown yet. Percy Harvin, the best player I've ever seen, certainly made life easier for Tebow, but he was still good without Harvin and in the face of [insert your own adjective] play-calling last season.

RUSHING

Tebow: 210 carries, 895 yds (4.3 yds per), 23 TDs

Newton: 206 carries, 1,297 yds (6.3 yds per), 17 TDs

Edge: Cam. Newton runs more than Tebow did, and Tebow was used so much in short-yardage situations that it does hurt his average. But even with that caveat, Newton is a better runner. He's faster and more elusive. If the goal is to get two yards, I'd take Tebow. If it's to gash a defense, it's Newton all day, which is clear by this stat comparison because their number of carries are so close. With four fewer carries, Newton has 402 more yards.

WINNING

Tebow: 9-4, loss to Michigan in Capital One Bowl

Newton: 11-0 and counting

Edge: Cam. Tebow lost four games and Newton is undefeated. All they can control is the offense, and that record in 2007 was the defense's fault. Tebow's Gators averaged 43.9 pts but gave up 24 and really faltered in the losses. But Newton's defense is allowing 24.9 and he hasn't lost, scoring an average of 42.8 pts. Bottom line is that Newton can't lose the winning category until he at least loses a game (then again, this Auburn team could very well wind up 0-14 by the time this Newton scandal stuff shakes out).

OVERALL

Based on this one-season comparison, Newton wins. But the career discussion is a different one. This is Newton's fourth year in college and second as a starter (junior college national title) whereas Tebow won the Heisman as a true sophomore in his first year at the helm. And he won a championship the next year and went undefeated through the regular season in 2009.

There isn't really a way to settle this debate, but the most important part to me is that it is a legitimate debate. Splitting hairs between the greatest athletes/bands/movies/whatever is a moot point. What matters is that you could make a case for either one.

And that should make watching Florida's offense this season hurt that much more.

An Ugly Night in The Swamp

I guess the nicknames for Florida's three quarterbacks should be Bad, Not a Quarterback and Not Given a Chance.

There was lots of hype for this game, and rightly so. You don't get a one-game playoff for the SEC East that often. But, as it turned out, the Gators are who we thought they were: a bad football team.

Saturday night's 36-14 beating at the hands of Steve Spurrier and South Carolina was thorough and complete. Florida was outgained 347-67 through three quarters and allowed the Gamecocks to control possession for 40 of 60 minutes. Andre Debose's touchdown on the opening kickoff return sent a solid crowd in The Swamp into complete bedlam, but that was about it (Ted Ginn anyone?) as far as positives go.

And, as has been the case all season, there weren't many answers after the game. Either Urban Meyer truly doesn't know what's wrong with his team or he doesn't want to share it with reporters. Some of the same excuses popped up: South Carolina blitzed a lot and also dropped eight into coverage, meaning there was apparently no possible way for the Gators to accomplish anything productive. Blitzes and prevent defense aren't automatic game-winning strategies, Florida just isn't good enough to take advantage of opposing defenses.

John Brantley looked bad, and Trey Burton and Jordan Reed weren't really used. I expected the Gators to turn things over to Reed when the game got ugly, but they didn't. Meyer said after the game that Reed doesn't know the offense well enough yet to run it, but it sure looks like Brantley isn't good enough to run it either. South Carolina entered Saturday with the worst pass defense in the SEC, and Brantley had 46 yards and an interception through three quarters.

So, where do the Gators go from here? They said after the game their motivation for the final two games will be sending the seniors out with a win, and they should probably go ahead and start looking for a new offensive coordinator too.

I stand by the fact that firing Steve Addazio wouldn't make much of a difference this season, but something has to be done before next year. I'm a strong believer that new coaches deserve a grace period of around three years, but Addazio has been at Florida, helped recruit these players and has been in this system. He just can't run it well, and someone else has to be brought in. 

His play-calling (as well as Brantley's play) was booed tonight, and rightly so. Florida never looked like a threat, and dubious calls like that screen pass on 3rd and 6 to Chris Rainey that lost three yards don't have a place in a program that aspires to win championships.

UF is by no means in shambles because of this loss, but it should at least serve as a wake-up call that changes need to be made. I know you want Addazio fired, but what else would you like to see changed?

 

 

Contest: Come up with a nickname for the Gators' 3-QB offense

A few seasons ago, Urban Meyer was pressed for a nickname for Florida's wildcat offense. Everyone expected "Wild Gator," but instead, he jokingly went with "Wild Duck." In that spirit, I'd like for the faithful Gator Clause readers to name the Gators' unique new offensive system, which features John Brantley, Trey Burton and Jordan Reed all at quarterback.

How rare is it for a team to run three QBs? Keep in mind, this isn't because of injuries, this was the plan from Day 1. UF hoped to use all three since the preseason, but offensive coordinator Steve Addazio said that was delayed when Reed got hurt and missed 24 of 26 fall practices.

I asked a few coaches if they could recall a team using three quarterbacks, and here's what they said:

Addazio: “No. I have not. I’m trying to think. Three quarterbacks…no, I have not.”

Vanderbilt coach Robbie Caldwell: “No, I hadn’t seen three, that’s for certain."

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier: “I think Red Hickey and the San Francisco 49ers did that back in the early 60s. Billy Kilmer, John Brodie and, I don’t know who the other quarterback was. Was Y.A. Tittle with them back then? I don’t know, but they had three quarterbacks that played, and they actually played a little shotgun back in those days. Other than that, I’ve not seen three of them go at it."

Spurrier was right on the mark. In 1961, Hickey's 49ers used Brodie, Kilmer and Bob Waters. Tittle was there the season before.

Anyway, this is a pretty interesting thing the Gators have going, and thank God, because the offense early in the year was dreadfully boring. Keep in mind, last week was Vandy, so this could completely fall flat against South Carolina on Saturday. But it does keep defenses on their toes.

Caldwell said it's a real cat-and-mouse game trying to defend that scheme, largely because all three can stay on the field for an entire game in different roles (though Brantley is just a decoy at receiver). There are a lot of challenges for Florida as well, as Meyer has to find ways to keep defenses from saying: "Brantley's in, it's a pass" or "Burton=run."

The obvious way to counter that is the pre-snap rotation the Gators have done at times, and Meyer said developing other methods is the focus of this week's practices. He mentioned tempo as one way, which I assume means hurrying up to the line after each play and changing QBs so the defense can't substitute.

And to me, the most impressive thing about this situation is the way Brantley has handled it. Check out my column for the UF school paper on this subject. Brantley is in a tough situation, and he deserves major props for not ruining the offense by having an ego about it.

With that said, this weekend could be his biggest test yet. Reed (left) looked mighty Cam Newton-ish against Vandy (again, it was Vandy), and his dual-threat skill set is the most natural fit for the offense. If things go south against the Gamecocks, I wouldn't be surprised to see the offense turned over to him simply because he makes play-calling easier.

“I don’t think they feel like one guy is definitely the best way to go," Spurrier said. "When I played two quarterbacks, I always said they both have their talents and similar ability, so the best way to win the game is play both of them. I’m sure that’s the way the Florida coaches look at it. To win the game, they have to play all three of them.”

Anyway, it's nickname time. Let's hear what you got. I'm not crazy about my idea, but I'll throw it out anyway: The 75 Cent Offense.

Leave your suggestions in the comments, where they'll inevitably be buried in a mountain of nonsensical Miami-related talk, or TWEET AT ME.

Newton wasn't necessarily facing expulsion from UF over cheating allegations

Cam Newton has blown by plenty of defenders this season at Auburn, but now he has to outrun a bunch of off-field allegations.

Less than a week after reports surfaced that a man solicited money from Mississippi State to ensure Newton would transfer there, FOXSports.com dropped a report that Newton was popped three times for academic cheating while at Florida.

UF had no comment on the situation, citing federal laws protecting student privacy, and Urban Meyer had this to say about rumors that he was the anonymous source in the FOX story:

“Our entire focus right now is on preparing for our biggest game of the year against South Carolina,” Meyer said in a statement. “For anyone to think that I or anyone on our staff may have leaked information about private student records to the media doesn't know us very well. It's a ridiculous claim and simply not true.”

But really, who cares if it was Meyer? I only care whether these allegations are true. Even if Meyer was the source and did it because he's angry Newton left, that's fine as long as it's true.

Assuming it is, that means Newton got caught cheating as a freshman and then, after his run-in (and throw-out) with police in November 2008 over a stolen laptop, he got in trouble two more times because of a paper. First, he allegedly put his name on another student's paper and turned it in, and after he was given a second chance, he turned in a paper he bought on the Internet.

I'm impressed by the idea of just putting your name on someone else's paper. I've turned in hundreds of papers in my academic career and never fallen prey to that, and I can't even fathom how that's done. Maybe one day Cam will explain.

Anyway, after these two incidents, Newton was supposedly due to appear before a student conduct committee but left rather than face consequences. Still, it's no sure thing he would have been expelled. UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said UF expels between one and two students a year and suspends about 10, but both numbers are skewed by students leaving before the hammer drops.

“There are no automatic consequences at the University of Florida,” Sikes said. “It depends on the totality of the issues. Each one is a case-by-case basis, and they really mean that. There is no single ‘If you do this, this is what happens.’”

I don't really care whether Newton cheated at Florida, but it does put a big dent in the redemption tour he's currently on, especially in conjunction with the money allegations. It also vindicates Meyer a bit in my mind. I felt he was to blame for Newton leaving because he failed to recognize the talent he had in front of him, but these allegations make it look more like Newton did it to himself.

And it'll be very interesting to see what impact this has on the Heisman Trophy race. Newton now faces the issue of voters passing him over out of fear that his Heisman could be vacated in the future, which is not how the award should be determined.

Oh, and the FBI is in on the act now.

Finally, here's a look at Mark Schlabach's welcome at Auburn last weekend. Schlabach has done a lot of reporting on the story for ESPN.com.

What do you think of all this? Do you believe Meyer? Do you think he'd drop a distraction like this in the biggest week of the season? And how much does this tarnish Newton in your mind?

Can the Gators silence their critics this weekend?

I'll get to all the exciting UF-Vanderbilt talk you've been waiting for in a second, but first off, we've got a fun photo from UF student Erik Knudsen, who spotted University Athletic Association workers painting over this sign on the 34th Street wall in Gainesville during the bye week:

Here's the story: After talking to the UAA maintenance department, a UF spokesman said they took it upon themselves to clean up this anti-Steve Addazio message and that no order came from the athletic department or football team to do so.

Yes, the wall on 34th is traditionally an outlet for student expression, and seeing this is kind of lame, but UF does have the right to protect its employees. Plus, the point of that wall is that you can paint what you want when you want to, so this isn't out of line. Just funny.

Anyway, the Gators threw a little blue paint on the "Fire Addazio" movement with their play against Georgia last week, and they'll be looking to do the same this weekend (smooth transition, huh?).

Good ol' Vanderbilt: the cure for a struggling football team. Even though Florida can still reach the SEC title game, the Gators have a lot of improving to do before they're ready for Alabama, Auburn or even South Carolina next week (that is, if Cam Newton's still playing for the Tigers).

The win over Georgia helped confidence-wise, but a three-point victory over a mediocre team does not right the ship. Saturday's meeting with Vanderbilt is the kind of game the Gators have struggled with in the past, with an 11:20 a.m. kickoff (central time), temperatures expected below 50 degrees and a small crowd.

Essentially, this is a warm-up game before the Gamecocks, but anything short of pummeling the Commodores, who've lost their last three SEC games by a combined score of 113-21, will be viewed as a failure. Vandy's offense shouldn't have much bite, especially now that running back/kick returner Warren Norman is out for the season with a wrist injury.

This will fall on Florida's offense, and I'd expect the attack to be fun to watch this week for a few reasons:

1. It's Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is terrible.

2. The Gators (allegedly) have lots of options in the run game. Urban Meyer said Emmanuel Moody (ankle) and Mike Gillislee (hamstring) are 100 percent, while Jeff Demps (sprained foot) should play as well. Add in Chris Rainey's dual role at RB and slot receiver, Trey Burton's wildcatting and the increased role Jordan Reed is supposed to have, and Florida should be able to throw a whole lot of looks at the Commodores. Reed (a former quarterback) is also supposed to throw the ball some. We'll see.

3. The no-huddle offense. It looked better against Georgia than I'd ever seen the Gators run it, and if they can clean up some of the penalties, that will be a very effective tool moving forward. Another plus is that most of the key offensive pieces (Demps, Rainey, Burton, Reed, Andre Debose if he's healthy) are versatile enough to play at several positions, meaning Florida doesn't have to interrupt the hurry-up with a bunch of subsititutions.

What do you want to see from the Gators this weekend? Will you be satisfied with anything less than total destruction? Wanna ramble about Randy Shannon or something instead? Holler in the comments.

And join the movement.

Can we put a sock in all this Florida-Georgia choke-sign talk? (UPDATED)

In college football (especially the SEC), there just aren't enough chill pills to go around. Last week, I prescribed one to the people complaining about Chris Rainey's return, and this week, I'm dishing out a heavy dose to the people freaking out about Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham's choke sign before Chas Henry's game-winning field goal on Saturday.

The Bulldogs called a timeout to ice Henry before his overtime field-goal attempt, and when the camera panned to UGA coach Mark Richt on the sideline, it caught Grantham repeatedly grabbing at his throat while appearing to notify Henry that he was "going to [expletive] choke." Video and photo evidence hit the Internet, setting off a wave of reaction.

The latest, from the AJC's Tony Barnhart this morning, says Grantham should be forced to apologize and then be fined and suspended for a game. He's not alone in that opinion, but is this really that big of a deal to you?

To me, this is way overblown. Grantham did something stupid, and the only person he harmed was himself. It makes him look like an idiot, and he should apologize. Instead, Grantham made himself look worse by offering this response:

“As a competitor, sometimes you get caught up in the heat of the moment. I wish the situation hadn’t happened. It was a tough, hard-fought game. They won it, and I’m ready to move forward and finish out the year strong."

When asked if he owes Henry an apology: “I’ve kind of basically said what I’m going to say.”

For me, that's the end of this story. When are we going to stop treating coaches like these almighty examples of moral character? Sure, they're leaders and should behave as such, but they're also intense competitors who live and die based on a game, and often, they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

Grantham showed his true colors Saturday, and that's all the punishment I think is necessary. Besides, it's not like Henry went home and cried after that. As my roommate said, "Florida's coaches have probably done worse than that to Henry in practice." If anything, it fueled him:

To be fair, there have been complaints from the UGA camp that Henry or other Florida players instigated the incident by making some kind of gesture first. I say, who cares? This is a football game, not church. It's a rivalry where, in the last four years, we've had Georgia rush the field and Florida call unnecessary timeouts to rub in a win and try to eye-gouge an opponent. Now, it's 2-2.

I don't think there will be any further comment from Florida on this situation, and that's for the best. Henry made the kick, Grantham made himself look immature, and now people are making way too big a deal out of it.

How do you feel about this? Agree with me? Want to give Grantham the electric chair? Or would you rather just take personal shots at each other about Miami? (We all know which option wins on this blog).

And remember, my Twitter is hungry.

UPDATE: Henry did a little taunting of his own, and he agrees this thing is overblown. Here's what he said today:

"I started laughing, like, 'You're going to ice me? I'm not even the kicker.' So I start looking and I see the guy doing the choke. I look at him again and he does like, 'You're going to choke.' So I take my helmet off and I gave him a little smooch. I blew him a little kiss. That might be why he got a little upset about that. Then he did it again."

"I think it's ridiculous that people are trying to say, 'Oh, he should have to apologize for it and everything.' It's just an intense game."

Gators get back on track with win against Bulldogs

Well, time to update my bio page, because Florida's 34-31 overtime win against Georgia definitely goes near the top of the list of best sporting events I've ever attended.

A good game really snuck up on everyone today. The Gators led 21-7 at the half and it wasn't particularly well-played, but things really got going in the fourth quarter, when the two teams combined for 31 points to send it to overtime, where Will Hill picked off a pass and Chas Henry ended it with a 37-yard field goal.

I went down on the sideline for overtime, and it was without a doubt the best atmosphere I've ever witnessed. My complaint about the neutral site for this game has always been that, while it's never quiet, it's rarely very loud. That wasn't the case in overtime.

As they prepared for the coin toss, both sides of the stadium were going completely nuts, with players dancing on the field and the most deafening noise level I've ever heard there. As a Jaguars fan, seeing 84,444 rabid fans at EverBank Field made me pretty jealous. If the Jags had that every Sunday they'd be really tough to deal with.

I'll get more into what Florida's offense did differently as the week goes on, but here are my thoughts coming out of the game.

UF ran a no-huddle offense, which seemed to work pretty well. UF coach Urban Meyer (that's him in the blue shirt in the picture, and that's punter/hero kicker Chas Henry ahead of Meyer on his teammates' shoulders) loved Oklahoma's no-huddle attack in 2008, and tonight was the best I've seen the Gators run it. Florida used to call that the "Banzai Offense," and it was more of a hurry-up-and-wait scheme where they audible five times, call timeout or jump offsides. Looked better tonight, but I guess that's what happens when you have two weeks to practice it.

The offense definitely looked different tonight, but a lot of that had to do with personnel. Emmanuel Moody and Mike Gillislee didn't play, and those frustrating dive and swing pass calls stayed on the sideline with them. Instead, Chris Rainey sparked the outside running game, which opened things up for Trey Burton to run up the middle. Burton went wild, picking up 110 yards and two scores on 17 carries, including a 51-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Florida did an awful lot of rotating at quarterback between John Brantley, Burton and even Jordan Reed, who had 19 yards on three carries and definitely needs more chances. I like the different looks, but I'd also like to see them find a way to succeed with Brantley. As things stand, it's pretty clear they aren't confident enough in Brantley to shape the offense around him.

But maybe they don't need to. The main issue I see is that Brantley isn't going to run and Burton isn't going to throw, so Florida is still predictable based on who they put back there. But with Rainey back and Jeff Demps on his way to full health, there are a lot of possibilities for what the Gators can do out of the backfield. They also used some pre-snap motions to swap Burton and Brantley in hopes of messing with the defense. Never looked like it worked particularly well to me, but it was something, right?

That's really what this game came down to for me. After the bland, crappy performances of the past month, the Gators needed to come out and show they had a pulse. They did that today. Even noted ball-dropper Deonte Thompson looked good. That catch down at the 2-yard line to set up Demps' touchdown run was incredible. On the flipside, UF did a good job on UGA stud wideout AJ Green (4 catches, 42 yards, TD). By the way, Green called for the ball on his TD in triple coverage, then scored anyway. Kid's a baller.

What was your favorite moment from tonight's game? What impressed you and what didn't? And where does that rank for you all-time for Florida-Georgia games? Anyone dressing up as Chas for Halloween?

Does Urban Meyer still have it? We'll find out this weekend.

Florida's tilt with Georgia in Jacksonville on Saturday will be one of the most important games under Urban Meyer at UF. Sure, the Gators and Bulldogs are both middle-of-the-road teams in a weak SEC East, but this contest could mean the difference between an SEC title (unlikely, I know) and the worst season of his career.

Meyer's brief retirement last year raised plenty of eyebrows, and the Gators' start this season hasn't exactly erased fears that he won't be the same as his dominant, pre-breakdown self. No one outside the program really knows what Meyer has done differently this year to manage his stress, so it's hard to pin this losing streak on anything health-related. But I think we'll get a pretty good idea of where he's at on Saturday.

Jeff Demps, Mike Gillislee, Emmanuel Moody and Chris Rainey will all be on the field in Jacksonville (according to Meyer), meaning he has his playmakers. He's also 31-3 in his career when having more than a week to prepare for a game, and he's had incredible success in rivalry games.

It would appear that everything is in Meyer's favor for this one, and if the Gators come out and look like the same team that just scored a total of 42 points in three losses (while Georgia averaged 42.7 in three wins), I think it's fair to question the job he's doing right now. He got a lot of credit for being an offensive genius during Florida's time atop college football, and he deserves some blame if he can't figure this out.

From what we've seen so far, Florida is just not a good team. They have some good players, but they haven't played well. To me, it's on Meyer to turn that around this weekend after getting guys healthy and having a week off. If this had come before Meyer's semi-retirement, I would have had no doubt he'd right the ship. Now, I'm not as certain.

Do you expect to see a different team this weekend? If you don't, how will you feel about Meyer? Or is it all Steve Addazio's fault? On that note, check out this YouTube video some Addazio-haters made:

"He must have some intelligence to get that job."

Remember to follow me on Twitter.

 

 

Chris Rainey will be right where he belongs Saturday: on the field for the Gators

I'm not a defender of Urban Meyer.

He does plenty of things I disagree with, I'm rarely comfortable believing anything he says, and in my first three seasons covering the Gators, his behavior around the media was usually standoffish and lame (he's been better this year).

With that said, I'm 100 percent on his side when it comes to his handling of Chris Rainey.

You know the story by now: "Time to Die," suspension, lawyer time, reduced charges, back to practice, fulfills vague behavioral requirements and now, Rainey will make his return this weekend against Georgia.

Yes, this is a crucial time and the Gators are in serious need of Rainey's services, but that's not the whole picture. Rainey made a mistake, accepted his punishment and should be allowed to play again. He fulfilled his duties to the legal system and then sat out a game. Are we really going to hold football teams to a standard higher than that? If your answer is yes, then you should also be disgusted with the academic standards at schools like Florida that admit students with subpar grades because they're big and fast. If that's you, the ideal time to switch your fandom is next weekend in Nashville. Buy a Vandy shirt.

But Rainey's case also raises a touchy subject: violence against women. The Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi wrote this week that Meyer should have kicked Rainey to the curb and taken a stand for women everywhere. Check it out. Sure, Meyer could have done that, but this wasn't the time to make such a statement. Meyer has had several cases of actual violence against women (Avery Atkins, suspended and transferred; Ronnie Wilson, kicked off team; Jacques Rickerson, kicked off team) and came down harder. Wilson and Rickerson also had prior suspensions for unrelated incidents.

Rainey's was not a serious case. Maybe that looks insensitive, but anyone who has met Rainey knew as soon as this story broke that it was another stupid, speak-before-you-think act without much of a real threat behind it. His similar statements in this category had been funny, when he professed his love for white girls and said "It's good to be Chris Rainey." This was far from a laugher, but not even the ex-girlfriend he sent it to took it literally.

The next morning, she stood up in court and said she didn't want charges pressed, adding that she never felt threatened and only called police to defuse the situation. Here's her full statement (along with her sister) from when the charges against Rainey were reduced to a misdemeanor:

“We would like to make a statement in regards to the incident on the night of September 14 between us and Chris Rainey. First and foremost, we want the public to know that any violence or potential violence against any person is unacceptable and needs to be seen as a very serious matter. We encourage anyone to follow our lead and call the police if involved in any situation where violence is possible. With that said, there are some key facts in this case that we would like the public to know. We have known Chris Rainey for three years and never during that time has he displayed any violent or threatening behavior towards us or anyone. To our knowledge, Chris does not drink alcohol or use drugs. His actions that night were out of character for reasons unknown to us, which is why we stood up in court on his behalf. The police we called that night to ensure the safety of everyone involved. We knew this was a particularly sensitive situation because of Chris’s position on the UF football team, which is why his last name was not given to the 911 operator. We felt this was a private, personal matter, and did not want it to become the media frenzy that it has become. The lack of sensitivity to our privacy has been disturbing, and we ask that our privacy be respected moving forward. We are in full support of the decision made by the State Attorney.”

Bianchi spoke to the director of a domestic violence shelter, who said she's skeptical of the statement because abused women often defend those who harm them. I certainly can't argue with someone who deals with these cases every day, but similarly, she's in no position to pass judgment on Rainey and the victim without knowing their case.

The people who did understand the situation (state's attorney, the victim, Meyer) are all in agreement that Rainey should be free to play football. Those who disagree are the ones on the outside looking in.

If what Rainey did is infinitely repulsive to you, don't cheer for him. But as far as whether he should have been allowed back on the team, I believe the case was handled correctly.

What would you have done with Rainey? Kick him straight off the team? Suspend him for more games? Bring him back for Miss St. after his legal duties were fulfilled? Please share your thoughts below, complete with all the usual back-and-forth that has nothing at all to do with the topic at hand.

 

No matter how Urban Meyer meant it, Auburn's Cam Newton is hard to watch

He probably didn't mean it that way, but after mostly deflecting questions about Florida-turned-Auburn quarterback Cam Newton all season, Urban Meyer accidentally gave the perfect answer.

Here's the exact transcript from Monday's press conference, where Meyer's quote led to lots of confusion:

Reporter: Do you allow yourself to watch Cam Newton on Saturday? Did you watch him?
Meyer: It’s really hard, I’ll tell you that. I don’t watch much of it.
Reporter: It’s really hard to watch it?
Meyer: Yea.
Reporter: Because…
Meyer: I just think he’s a very good player, and I’m trying to watch more of the teams we play, so I spend my time watching the other ones we’re going to play.
Reporter: So like every Florida fan in the country, you think, ‘What if he was here?’ You let yourself...
Meyer: No, no, no, no. I didn’t say that.
Reporter: Does that ever cross your mind?
Meyer: No.
Reporter: Liar. (Laughter ensues)

A UF spokesman said Meyer told him afterward that he had probably been misunderstood as saying he can't bear to watch Newton because he's been so good since transferring away from UF. To me, it's pretty clear Meyer meant that he doesn't have time to watch much college football outside of the teams he's preparing for. But it also doesn't matter, because anyone with any sense knows that Meyer doesn't like the fact that while his offense is struggling, a player he once coached could win the Heisman Trophy--at Auburn.

(UPDATE: After re-reading that quote a few times, I've had a change of heart. The "I'll tell you that" part doesn't make sense other than as part of him saying it's hard to watch Newton because he's good. Looks to me like Meyer let some honesty slip out and then tried to backpedal.)

Newton balled out once again this weekend, rushing for 217 yards and two scores while completing 10 of 16 passes for 86 yards. He's already set an SEC record for rushing yards in a season by a QB, and he has at least five games left. His second TD run against the Tigers looked like this:

Naturally, Newton's success this year has been a thorn in the sides of Gators fans, with plenty of jokes about how a stolen laptop ruined Florida's offense and complaints that Meyer picked the wrong time to be a disciplinarian when he booted Newton from the program.

A good story, only that's not what happened. Yes, Newton bought a stolen laptop and tossed it out the window when police arrived, but Meyer didn't kick him off the team. Newton left because Tim Tebow decided to come back for his senior year and John Brantley was waiting in the wings.

That's where UF's staff really messed up--they just missed on the kind of talent they had in their hands. The decision was effectively made when Brantley and Newton were freshmen and Brantley got redshirted, meaning he'd be around longer after Tebow's departure. There was also some talk of putting Newton at tight end, though we'll never really know how serious it was.

Newton was never especially impressive to me while he was in Gainesville (my lasting image of him in orange and blue is him dropping snaps. Imagine how much fun that would have been this year!) but this fact remains: Newton is the best player in college football so far this season, and Florida let him get away.

Meyer said a few weeks ago that he had no regrets about the way Newton's disciplinary situation was handled, but he has to wish he had that kind of talent on his team now. That's not something we have to hear from his mouth to know that it's true. It's just common sense, kind of like Brantley doesn't have to say this isn't how he envisioned the season going for us to know this isn't ideal.

For more on the Newton story, check out these two links:

Gator Clause founder and Heat beat writer Joseph Goodman's column Friday and former UF beat writer and current SI staffer Andy Staples' story from this summer.

And, make me feel cool by following me on Twitter.

#Gators fans don't really want Urban Meyer fired, do they?

No interview access to the Florida football team til Wednesday, and once again, my saying of, "Don't give media members anything to cover and they'll come up with something" rings true.

There has been plenty of fallout from the Gators' loss to Mississippi State, with most of the anger directed at offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, whose job is now being offered up on Craigslist. But as I said in my last post on here, head coach Urban Meyer deserves some blame for this season going the way it has.

Evidently, someone agrees, though perhaps too much. The website FireCoachMeyer.com picked up lots of attention Tuesday, being featured on ESPN's Around the Horn and Pardon The Interruption and sparking debate about whether Meyer is taking tons of heat from UF fans. In my opinion, this discussion is stupid for two reasons, the obvious one being that Meyer has won two national titles in five-plus seasons and isn't going to be fired.

But also, take a look at that site. It was created in 2005 under the belief that Meyer's spread offense wouldn't work in the SEC (by the kind of person who probably referred to it as a Mickey Mouse offense). That turned out to be very, very wrong, and the site mostly went quiet until this season. It also looks like it was designed by a 7th grader, which may be an insult to 7th graders.

This isn't some coordinated effort by Florida fans to oust the most successful coach they've ever had, it's just some dummy who made a website. You could start one right now and get on ESPN within 24 hours (www.fireMikeandbringbackJoe.com is available).

It would take at least three solid seasons of near-.500 play for me to start believing Meyer needs to go. In my mind, it's more likely he'd retire than be fired for mediocrity. Addazio, meanwhile, is probably a goner if this year keeps going terribly. In fact, I'd wager that a loss to Georgia where UF scores 10 points or less would spell the end of his tenure.

What would it take for you to want Meyer fired? Let's keep it to on-field results. Here's the most painful scenario I could see for Gators fans this year, outside of losing out: Florida loses to South Carolina but still manages to sneak into the SEC Championship, where it falls to Auburn before losing to Illinois in a bowl game. That way, the Gators will have lost to Billy Gonzales, Dan Mullen, Steve Spurrier, Cam Newton and Ron Zook in the same season. Can you top that?

Also, for all your Herald UF coverage from here on out, follow me on Twitter.

---

Mike McCall

#Gators drop from AP top-25 after loss to MSU

Contrary to what many people expected when they left The Swamp last night, the sun did rise in Gainesville this morning. As a matter of fact, it's a beautiful day, and with it came a realization as clear as the sky I'm looking at through my window right now:

Florida ain't good.

And Saturday night's loss to Mississippi State (read those last six words again for full effect) put the word out. The AP poll dropped today (LINK) and UF is nowhere to be found. For the first time under Urban Meyer, the Gators are unranked, ending an 89-week streak. They didn't even receive a vote (Kentucky, Air Force and East Carolina did).

Here's the game story to put this loss in perspective, courtesy of Clark Spencer, who got a fine baptism to the UF beat last night: LINK

Now, it's pretty clear that 2010 is going to be a forgettable season, but what's next? Well, thanks to South Carolina losing to Kentucky, the Gators can STILL win the SEC East and get a shot at the SEC title if they win the rest of their conference games. A BCS game is still on the table, which is baffling. Then again, the Liberty Bowl is a possibility too.

So how to fix this mess? Here are my suggestions. Feel free to leave yours in the comments, along with the standard UM-UF back-and-forth nonsensical chest-thumping that we've all come to know and love on this blog. All these are on the offensive side, obviously. The defense did its job.

-Firing Steve Addazio isn't the answer

But this photoshopped picture, which a friend of mine posted on facebook, is hilarious:

Maybe you think Addazio didn't make a single good call, but really, what would you do with this bunch? Running backs Jeff Demps, Emmanuel Moody and Mike Gillislee were all out or slowed at some point during the game, which led to receiver/tight end Omarius Hines taking over the running game.

Add on Chris Rainey's suspension and Andre Debose's ankle injury, and Addazio is running an offense that suffers from a severe lack of playmakers. Plus, let's not give Meyer a free pass here. This is his offense, and it's not like he blindly lets Addazio and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler call the plays. If you fire Addazio, who would you replace him with?

In truth, the best two replacements have been in The Swamp the past two weeks -- MSU head coach Dan Mullen and LSU receivers coach Billy Gonzales. Those two have the best grasp of Meyer's system, and what Florida has now is a shell of its former attacks.

At the least, Meyer needs to get on Addazio about his offensive line. That's his specialty, and the line was expected to be the team's best unit this year. Instead, the blocking has been very poor, and that effects every facet of the offense.

-The offensive philosophy has to change

Florida is trying to plug a lot of round holes with square pegs. Quarterback John Brantley doesn't need to be running the option because he isn't a runner. Trey Burton is a good runner, but turning the offense over to him isn't a good idea either because he can't throw. The Bulldogs knew that, and they blitzed Burton heavily last night.

Also, enough of putting Brantley at receiver when Burton is in the wildcat. Yes, Brantley standing out there means a defender has to go with him, but a wideout would demand attention too and could actually block/catch, so why not just do that?

Meyer always says he wants to fit his offense to his players. Well, Brantley is supposed to be a whiz at reading defenses and a great downfield thrower. Time to make that his focus. The common excuse this year has been that defenses are dropping deep into coverage, so UF is staying short with passes and "taking what the defense gives us." How often do defenses hand out touchdowns? It's time to make Brantley man up and take what he wants.

-Deonte Thompson has to at least be scaled back

He was supposed to be the big-play wideout, but Thompson has been a flop. A couple more drops last night, including one that was picked off. Deonte has had his moments this year, but Frankie Hammond has looked better. Hammond made five catches for 69 yards last night and looks every bit as effective as Thompson. He and Carl Moore should be the top targets on the outside moving forward, with Debose filling the hybrid role if he's healthy.

-Time to bring Rainey back

Get over it people. Rainey sent a stupid text message and paid the price. His legal troubles are behind him, and what he did was far more dumb than it was violent (go read the victim's statements). He deserves to be made fun of for a while, but there's also no reason he can't come back for the Georgia game in two weeks.

Rainey was underwhelming in the first two games, but the Gators are in no position to leave fast people standing on the sideline just to please a public that has a very loose grasp of the situation.

If given the keys to the Florida program, what would you do? I suppose the good news is that the Gators have two weeks to get healthy and try to figure something out before facing Georgia, but there's a lot that needs doing.

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Mike McCall

Highlights from #Gators basketball media day

By Mike McCall

Florida football got you bummed out? Allow the basketball team to provide a little distraction. The Gators held their media day today, and here are a few of the most interesting storylines (to me, anyway).

-Expectations are high again

Florida will enter this season surrounded by the highest expectations since the 04s left town with all those championship rings, and rightly so. The Gators return all five starters and add McDonald's All-American Patric Young to a squad that made it to the NCAA Tournament (losing its first-round game to BYU in double overtime).  

But UF coach Billy Donovan is doing his best to knock down the hype. Here's what he said today:

"You know the perception is, in today’s environment in basketball, where you have a team that went to the NCAA tournament and returns all five starters, the expectations and the perception is that you’re going to be really, really good. This is a team that needed a 75-foot shot from (forward) Chandler Parsons against North Carolina State. That needed a game-winning shot by Chandler against South Carolina. That needed a game-winning shot by Erving Walker at Alabama to get into the tournament. So the reality is that this group really hasn’t done a lot. This group really hasn’t accomplished a whole lot.”

Compare that to Parsons, who said the feeling heading into this year is "totally different" from 2009:

"I think our goals are a lot higher this year. Not getting to the NCAA Tournament my first two years, last year we were just like we have to get there. I think we are just worried about this Friday and getting our chemistry right, getting all the plays down and just coming together and becoming the best team we can.”

How good can they be? Parsons says he feels they have a team to make a run at a national title.

-Kenny Boynton says he's back with a refined shooting technique

The Pompano Beach native led the Gators in scoring as a freshman (14 ppg), but at times, he and backcourt partner Erving Walker struggled with shooting. Boynton finished the year at 37.6 percent, hitting 29.4 percent of his three-point attempts.

Here are some of Boynton's shooting lines from UF's final 14 games:

2-11 in loss to Tennessee
2-9 in win vs Miss St.
3-9 in loss to Xavier
2-7 in win vs Auburn
2-12 in win vs Ole Miss
2-15 in loss to Vanderbilt

Then, he went off for a combined 50 points in the Gators' last two contests, his first back-to-back 20-point games in four months. During the offseason, Boynton said he flew to Los Angeles to work with a shooting coach familiar with Donovan, and he's happy with his results so far, saying his mid-range shooting is much more consistent.

“Basically, I am releasing it more in front of my head where as last year I never knew when it was going to go in, I was just shooting it. Now I know when it is optimal and how long it is going. I think it is a better shot now.” 

-Patric Young is a beast

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound freshman from Jacksonville looks like the kind of guy Urban Meyer would like to suit up on the football field. He'll see playing time at forward and center this year, and Donovan said he wants Young to focus more on rebounding and defense than scoring.

That's fine by Young, who said that's the role he wants to play.

"That's basically what I'm known for, is being a real physical guy who's going to come in there and do the dirty work," Young said. "I love contact, I do love contact. That's just what I think basketball is, it's a contact sport. So why not go out there and hit everybody?"

That doesn't mean he won't be a factor on offense. His strength (he says he's the strongest on the team) will be an asset inside.

"[Teammates] call me Karl Malone and Dwight Howard," Young said. "They tell me I need to stop lifting weights and do more stretching."

"I can probably bench [Erving Walker] once and just throw him out of the building."

Young is proving to be a quotable fellow, so expect to see a lot of ink spilled in his honor. And he made a splash shortly before leaving media day, taking an alley-oop and throwing it down with one hand. As one reporter said after the dunk, "I haven't seen that around here in a while."

-New players will make practices more productive

Last year, there weren't really any players to challenge Vernon Macklin or Boynton and Walker in practice. That's not the case anymore.

Macklin has to deal with Young, and the guards will be pushed by Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario, a  McDonald's All-American in high school. Rosario will have to sit out this season, but he's already having an impact on the starting guards in workouts.

"My main goal this year is to get stronger -- that's one of my weaknesses -- and just to work on my game, get better and make my teammates better," Rosario said. "I want to try to help the young guys out with my experience, help the freshmen get to where they have to go. I feel like that's my responsibility this year."

Boynton said Rosario's presence means he has to play better defense in practices, as Rosario can spot up from just about anywhere. He put on a brief shooting clinic for reporters Wednesday.

-Agents are on Billy D's mind, too

Agents have been a hot topic in college football this season, but they're a problem for basketball coaches as well. Donovan spoke about the issue Wednesday, saying the main problem is that during the offseason, college players want to keep preparing for professional careers, and because they can't do that with their college coaches, they have to go other places where agents could be lurking.

"I'd say it's probably as bad (as in football)," Donovan said. "It's amazing because I think in a lot of ways you see a lot of this pop up right now and a lot of people act like they can't believe it happens. It's been going on for a long, long time. I don't think there's anything to necessarily do about it in the sport of basketball until the Players' Association who's in charge of the agents, the NCAA and David Stern, if they could all somehow come together and resolve it."